MERCER COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS)—Two buildings in downtown Bluefield are preparing to be demolished to make way for additional parking spaces.
The Bland Ferry building and a building previously owned by a telecommunications union sit beside each other on the corner of Bland Street and McCulloch Avenue. Both structures were examined and concluded to be unsalvageable.
Bland Ferry was acquired through a tax sale while the union came to the City of Bluefield and asked to buy their building back.
“We can’t really demolish the first building we had acquired without affecting the second one…since that was in bad shape as well,” said City Attorney Colin Cline.
A grant application is pending that will be able to give the city funds for the demolition. There is no specific time on when it will be approved, but they hope to complete this project within the year or less.
Assuming the grant is approved, the city will put out a bid for a company to get to work on the demolition. That process would take about 6 months with the winning bidder starting construction the following thirty days.
The cost of this demolition has not yet been finalized as the city waits on the grant. One of the reasons why additional parking is needed is because of the increase in jobs.
Since Intuit and Alorica came to Bluefield, it puts pressure on parking in the city. The city also hopes to introduce new businesses as well that could benefit from the future parking.
“We’re seeing growth in our downtown and want to be prepared for it,” said Cline.
But not all residents agree with tearing down the buildings. Some believe that the city could save those structures and find a good use for them.
“Here’s the problem. The expense of doing so will vastly exceed whatever kind of revenue you could get from renting them…they haven’t been inside them and we try to save buildings when we can,” added Cline.
Most of the buildings in downtown Bluefield were built before modern fire codes and the American Disability Act. In the future, more buildings would decline in condition which leads to more demolitions, according to Cline.
The demolition project will start when the city’s grant application is approved.
