PIEDMONT — As the Town of Piedmont waits on one last permit needed before they can commence demolishing the former St. Anne’s Hotel, the West Virginia Senate and House of Delegates have come through with emergency funding for the costly project.
Mineral County Commissioner and Piedmont resident Janice LaRue announced Thursday that she and fellow Commissioner Cindy Pyles had met with state legislators during a recent visit to Charleston and, with photos of the rapidly deteriorating building in hand, had tried to impress upon them the immediate need to take action to raze the building.
Empty for the past 25 years, the historic landmark has consistently deteriorated in that time. When the roof collapsed underneath two feet of snow in December, town officials began scrambling to find emergency funding to demolish the unsafe structure.
Thursday, LaRue said she brought the subject up to Sen. Walt Helmick, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, as well as Sen. Dave Sypolt, Sen. Bob Williams, and Delegates Bob Schadler and Allen Evans when the commissioners were in Charleston.
“Del. Evans talked to the Speaker of the House for us,” she said.
The cause even received support from Fayette County's Delegate — former Keyser resident Margaret Staggers.
Following a series of impromptu meetings between the commissioners and the legislators, both the House and the Senate agreed to pitch in toward the estimated $38,500 cost of the demolition.
Since the commissioners were already in Charleston for an unrelated meeting, Pyles credits their success in getting the funds for the town to “being in the right place at the right time.”
According to Piedmont Town Clerk Betsy Rice, the town will use the funds to demolish the old hotel, which towers above the Piedmont City Building on Second Street, and then take legal action to recover the money from the owner of the property.
“This will certainly help; we just don't have that kind of money,” she said.
Rice told the News Tribune last week that Gerald Altizer, of Westernport, is the owner of the property.
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PIEDMONT — As the Town of Piedmont waits on one last permit needed before they can commence demolishing the former St. Anne’s Hotel, the West Virginia Senate and House of Delegates have come through with emergency funding for the costly project.
Mineral County Commissioner and Piedmont resident Janice LaRue announced Thursday that she and fellow Commissioner Cindy Pyles had met with state legislators during a recent visit to Charleston and, with photos of the rapidly deteriorating building in hand, had tried to impress upon them the immediate need to take action to raze the building.
Empty for the past 25 years, the historic landmark has consistently deteriorated in that time. When the roof collapsed underneath two feet of snow in December, town officials began scrambling to find emergency funding to demolish the unsafe structure.
Thursday, LaRue said she brought the subject up to Sen. Walt Helmick, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, as well as Sen. Dave Sypolt, Sen. Bob Williams, and Delegates Bob Schadler and Allen Evans when the commissioners were in Charleston.
“Del. Evans talked to the Speaker of the House for us,” she said.
The cause even received support from Fayette County's Delegate — former Keyser resident Margaret Staggers.
Following a series of impromptu meetings between the commissioners and the legislators, both the House and the Senate agreed to pitch in toward the estimated $38,500 cost of the demolition.
Since the commissioners were already in Charleston for an unrelated meeting, Pyles credits their success in getting the funds for the town to “being in the right place at the right time.”
According to Piedmont Town Clerk Betsy Rice, the town will use the funds to demolish the old hotel, which towers above the Piedmont City Building on Second Street, and then take legal action to recover the money from the owner of the property.
“This will certainly help; we just don't have that kind of money,” she said.
Rice told the News Tribune last week that Gerald Altizer, of Westernport, is the owner of the property.
