LOGAN The Logan City Council discussed ongoing property projects and revitalization efforts during its meeting Tuesday.
City Clerk Amber Miller-Belcher said the city bought the Peebles Building on Main Street for $100,000, significantly less than the original $475,000 asking price. The property has three structures, and part of it, formerly the Aracoma Drug location, has been given to the Island Creek Model Railroad Club. Restoration is planned using leftover funds from the Accelerate West Virginia initiative.
Council members also reviewed progress on the Marshall University Medical Housing Complex. Artist renderings from Edward Tucker Architects Incorporated were shared on Facebook after arriving Monday. The Stratton Street building will include business space on the ground floor and housing on the upper floors. According to Miller-Belcher, the project has been backed by Opportunity Appalachia, which has made sure the city hasn’t had to dip into its own coffers to pay for the renovations.
“Because we have all of the drawings, all of the financials, all of everything you all have seen – and just to give you an idea, that’s hundreds of thousands of dollars – and because we were accepted as an Opportunity Appalachia project, it’s cost us zero dollars. It’s all been grant-funded,” she said. “People say ‘get a grant;’ they have nothing to be able to prove or show or ‘here’s the idea for the building’, they don’t have anything to present for financials. We do. We have a solid plan of what we’re going to do with that building, even renderings.”
The city is working to establish a historical district downtown. Residents in Logan may have noticed the metal siding missing off of a number of buildings along Stratton Street; that’s part of the preparations for inspections necessary for any historical district to become nationally recognized. Inspections for the designation are going to cost the city $15,000, which will be covered using funding from Accelerate West Virginia. The remaining $30,000, according to Miller-Belcher, can go toward technical assistance for restoration projects like the Peebles Building. Additionally, the city has a $14 million grant application in progress for downtown revitalization.
City officials will meet on March 25 with Tighe Bullock, a developer from Thurmond who has led restoration efforts in Charleston’s Elk City Historic District. Through Opportunity Appalachia, Bullock was assigned to Logan to guide the city’s revitalization projects. In August, officials will participate in an investor’s forum, presenting a short video and presentation on the medical housing complex and other downtown improvements. That forum’s purpose is to attract new investors and business into developing communities.
Logan was recently selected as one of ten communities in the second round of the Accelerate WV program, part of the Appalachian Climate Technology Now Coalition. Led by the West Virginia Community Development Hub, the program partners with organizations like Advantage Valley, AFV Educate, WV Brownfields Centers, and The WV Hive to promote economic development. Over the next two years, Logan will participate in community meetings, training sessions, and webinars on economic resilience planning. The program supports Logan’s broader revitalization efforts, including the Peebles Building restoration and the medical housing complex.
PHOTO | Robert Fields
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