HUNTINGTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – “Huntington City Council District 2 representative Todd Sweeney has distributed a portion of his designation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Huntington Area Development Council (HADCO).
Sweeney presented HADCO President and CEO David Lieving with a check for $50,000 on Wednesday, Feb. 8, that will go toward the redevelopment of the former Duncan Box & Lumber property on 14th Street West in Huntington.
The property will require a significant amount of environmental remediation and structural repair prior to redevelopment. HADCO already has overseen an extensive environmental review of the site and is currently undertaking several remediation efforts including the removal of underground storage tanks, closure of on-site monitoring wells and the safe remediation of oily water located in the basement of the property.
HADCO aims to prepare the site for development and to engage a number of private-sector developers to implement an anchor retail/recreation development that will drive tourism and commercial traffic to this section of 14th Street West.
“I’m excited to be a small part in the revitalization of this historic property,” Sweeney said. “In the future, this property will bring jobs and visitors to the area. Along with the addition of the Huntington Children’s Museum and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ new technical school, this is another step in the right direction for Huntington’s West End.”
“HADCO is very appreciative to receive the grant award from Councilman Sweeney,” Lieving added. “It will allow HADCO to prepare the site for redevelopment by removing environmental barriers and addressing other issues that might surface, allowing us to reduce risk for new investors interested in doing business in the City of Huntington.
“The Duncan Box property has been dormant for many years, and we are looking forward to working with the City of Huntington team and Lauren Kemp at RenewAll, Inc. to redevelop 14th Street West into an even more vibrant and engaging neighborhood.”
The City of Huntington received $40,628,967 in ARPA funds in 2021. The funding is meant to help communities across the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Each of Huntington City Council’s 11 representatives was designated with $100,000 in ARPA funds to distribute to community projects that qualify under the guidelines of the American Rescue Plan Act.”
