The city of Morgantown is reprogramming Community Development Block Grant funds from 2017 and 2018 to help fund just under $700,000 in accessibility improvements to the old Woodburn School building.
The funds will be used for the design, materials, construction and inspection of building improvements, including the installation of an elevator to serve all four levels, an accessible ramp and vestibule facing Parsons Street and bathroom renovations.
Director of Development Services Chris Fletcher explained to Morgantown City Council that $216,000 can be reprogrammed from previous CDBG allotments that have not been spent for a variety of reasons.
— A total of $136,800 from the Fairmont-Morgantown Housing Authority Home Rehabilitation Program.
Fletcher said federal requirements have resulted in several smaller CDBG entitlement communities, like Morgantown, eliminating the program.
He said city staff will work with FMHA to look at how home rehab could be included in future CDBG budgets, and noted $50,000 remains programmed for the FMHA’s homebuyer assistance efforts.
— $75,000 from Walnut Street Streetscape ADA improvements.
Fletcher said the city can more than offset that amount if the DOH grants its request to redirect $620,000 to Walnut Street and Pleasant Street streetscape improvements from two DOH projects that will not move forward — a multi-use path along WV 705 located outside the city that would require annexation and a sharrows and bus shelter project that was rejected by DOH District 4.
— $5,000 from Health Right’s harm reduction office space project.
According to Fletcher, no progress has been made on the project and some legwork remains before it can move forward.
If approved next month by Morgantown City Council, those redirected funds will be added to $487,829 in available CDBG dollars collected since 2015 for the Woodburn project.
The 100-year-old building off Fortney Street in the city’s 5th Ward is the home to a number of programs, including PopShop Performance Academy, MT Pockets Theatre and Friends of Deckers Creek.
The building also served as the base of operations for the Mountaineers Boy & Girls Club. The club is undergoing some leadership changes and restructuring and is not currently in the facility.
Chris Haddox, chairman of the Woodburn School Redevelopment Committee, said the expenditure on the old building is both needed and worthwhile.
He said the building sits in Woodburn, but serves the entire city and beyond.
“We view it as a Morgantown asset, not just a Woodburn asset and the services that are delivered out of that facility are pretty significant,” Haddox said, explaining that addressing the accessibility issues is part of getting the Boys & Girls Club back in the building.
“Boys & Girls Club impacts the whole county. The Friends of Deckers Creek impact the entire watershed. PopShop has kids from all over. MT Pockets fulfills that community arts and entertainment role. This is a county benefit and a critical asset in our community,” Haddox said.
“We feel like it’s often been viewed as more of an expense than an asset over the years but we’ve been working hard and we’re looking forward to some things we’ve got coming together right now.”
There are multiple openings on the Woodburn School Redevelopment Committee. You do not have to be a resident of the Woodburn neighborhood to apply. Additional information is available on the city’s website, morgantownwv.org.
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