MORGANTOWN — The building at 1110 University Ave., which housed the Bartlett House emergency shelter for nearly four decades, is likely coming down.
The city of Morgantown on Tuesday opened five responses to its request for contractors interested in clearing asbestos and demolishing the 11,340 square-foot former shelter and its neighboring structure at 1116 University Ave.
Those bids ranged from about $82,000 to a little over $284,000.
According to the Monongalia County Parcel Viewer, both buildings are still owned by Bartlett House Inc.
The Dominion Post has been unsuccessful in getting any real details about the potential demolition of the buildings or the future of the property.
“The City is exploring the use of funds available to demolish dilapidated properties to remove this structure. Any arrangements for the demolition contract are still to be determined,” Communications Director Brad Riffee explained on Oct. 23.
The buildings sit on .21 acres and are currently listed for sale with Black Diamond Realty for $595,000.
According to that listing, the 4.050 square-foot structure at 1116 University Ave. is uninhabitable.
The removal of the longtime shelter would be a symbolic end to a year that saw Bartlett Housing Solutions forced to relinquish control of both its emergency triage shelter in Hazel’s House of Hope and its West Run transitional and permanent supportive housing units to other agencies.
The nonprofit declared in March that it would need to close the triage shelter, at least temporarily, due to a lack of funds.
Three months later, the reality of the situation became clear when its board of directors reached out to the city of Morgantown and Monongalia County explaining it needed $300,000 in emergency funding to survive the next 60 days.
In June, Morgantown City Council and the Monongalia County Commission each put up $17,500 to cover the nonprofit’s payroll.
In July, both approved another $150,000 to bring in Catholic Charities West Virginia to take over operation of the triage shelter, which it did in September.
As of Oct. 1, the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness has assumed full responsibility for the operation and management of the West Run Bridge Joint Transitional Housing-Rapid Rehousing Project and the West Run Permanent Supportive Housing Project – the former Bartlett House properties at 10 West Run Rd.
