GLEN JEAN, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Many people gathered at the Bank of Glen Jean Thursday evening to learn more about the National Park Service’s (NPS) proposed plan to demolish thirty-five structures within park boundaries.
The public meeting comes after officials with New River Gorge National Park & Preserve announced its plan to demolish a total of 35 “deteriorating and excess structures” in the park.
This initiative forms part of a broader project financed by the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund, aimed at restoring historic structures, investing in park infrastructure, addressing deferred maintenance needs, and reducing operational costs.
Of these 35 buildings, 21 hold historical significance and are either listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
Nearly 15 structures are included in the historic railroad town of Thurmond, the smallest municipality in the state.
The town is still home to a total of four residents with some homes still being lived in or serving as private vacation rentals.
Many of the homes in Thurmond currently owned by the National Park Service are being proposed for demolition.
Park officials say that these buildings have become in too poor of shape and that monies are just not there to maintain these buildings continuously.
Delegate Elliott Pritt (R-Fayette) represents West Virginia’s smallest municipality in the House of Delegates and says that these buildings should have never become dilapidated in the first place.
“The issue is, they’ve (NPS) had possession of these structures for decades, most of them, not all of them, but most. So, whose fault is it that they’re dilapidated,” Pritt stated. “It’s the Park Service, the entity that’s supposed to preserve all of these things, wanting to come to tear them down.”
Pritt believes federal dollars can be appropriated to help maintain and save these structures.
“We’ve got all this money to throw into [other countries], but we don’t have money to preserve very little of the history that’s left in our nation’s newest national park,” Pritt explained. “It’s a misappropriation.”
Pritt says those who are concerned for the future of the structures should contact their representatives in Congress as the park is federal land and there is nothing the state can do in this situation.
He believes that the current proposal from the NPS should be stopped for now until next year’s budget in hopes that appropriation can be made to help maintain these structures.
Pritt also told LOOTPRESS that he plans to introduce a resolution in the House on Friday supporting the preservation of these structures.
Eve West, chief of interpretation and visitor services for New River Gorge National Park & Preserve, says that today’s meeting was an open house to provide information to the public about the park’s proposed plan.
“This is a proposed project, and we’re in the early stages of the project right now. The whole objective is funded by the Great American Outdoors Act, and the purpose of that, what those funds were intended for, was to reduce deferred maintenance in the park,” West explained.
West says that the proposed demolition is a way for the park to alleviate deferred maintenance.
“The purpose or the objective of the act is to get rid of those structures so that we can put those funds for the most significant resources in the park, like the Glen Jean Bank being a very good example of those structures,’ West stated.
West says although some structures are indeed historic, they are in very poor shape.
“Some of the structures that are historic that we’re proposing are structures that have just gotten in such a state of disrepair they don’t tell the story as well as they used to tell the story,” West said. “We also consider the fact that we can tell that story, we can preserve the history of that area without actually having the structure in place.”
The NPS plans to keep the foundations of each structure that is demolished, install wayside exhibits for visitors, and attempt to use augmented reality in the future.
“We’ve actually talked about developing a smartphone application using augmented reality that people could download before they went to Thurmond,” West stated. “It would show [visitors] what the structures looked like back when the structures were actually well preserved.”
The next phase of the project will be the development of a Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA). Public comments received at the meeting and online will be used to help develop the assessment, according to West.
There will be a proposed alternative and then the NPS will select a preferred alternative. A second public comment period will be scheduled once those proposals are made after the completion of the DEA.
The NPS plans to have this phase completed by the middle of the year.
West says that the park will now review all of the public comments made and that they are appreciated.
“We really appreciate that people are so interested in this park and preserving it, preserving its history,” West concluded.
The New River Gorge is not only known for the coal industry but for the railroad as well.
The Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railway was completed through the gorge in January of 1873 which allowed access to coal in the wild and rugged region.
Thurmond served as the heart of the C&O in the gorge as hundreds of railroad workers lived in the town at one time. The town also recorded more freight revenue than Cincinnati and Richmond combined.
C&O Historical Society President Mark Totten attended the meeting and said that these structures and their history need to be preserved.
“What these buildings represent is the history of our people. Our organization is all about preserving not just the history of the railroad, but the people that made the railroad operate,” Totten said. “The people that came to the New River Gorge, carved out a living, and changed history with nothing but sweat and human grit, deserve to be remembered and not lost in the oblivion.”
Totten believes that many of the structures can be salvaged and transformed into a business opportunity.
“We’re losing an economic development opportunity to come up with a business plan for each of these salvageable structures,” Totten explained. “Many on the list are and could be turned into viable business opportunities. If the Park Service allowed a partnership to form, that partnership would save the history as well as the economic impact for the region.”
Totten believes that both the natural history and industrial history of the gorge should be preserved.
“The history we’re talking about in this region, we have a natural history in the New River Gorge and we have an industrial history in the New River Gorge.”
“This is one of the few places where those two things coexist, but it doesn’t have to be one history versus another, honoring and preserving the natural history and industrial history are not mutually exclusive.”
Micah Mocnik, a local photographer and senior at Shady Spring High School, was in attendance at Thursday’s meeting.
Mocnik believes that the demolition of these structures would erase a part of history.
“We’re losing so much of our history every day, whether it be in new construction projects or demolition projects such as the National Park [Service] is presenting here. It’s important that we work as a state and as a people to keep these examples alive of what life is like in the gorge,” Mocnik explained.
“In terms of what I saw today, this was nothing more than the [NPS] demonstrating to us that they do not care about our state and our history.”
Mocnik says that Thurmond has already lost many important structures over the years and that this proposal would severely hurt the historical aspect of the town.
“We’ve already lost the Thurmond engine facility. We’ve lost so many of the buildings in the downtown portion. Need I mentioned the Dun Glen [Hotel],” Mocnik said. “If we tear down the buildings here, we’re going to lose family stories, history, and quite frankly, our identity as a people.”
As previously noted, no official decision has yet been made by park officials. A second public meeting will be scheduled in the future following the completion of the DEA.
More information regarding the proposed demolition plan by the NPS can be viewed here.
Contact information for West Virginia’s congressional delegation may be viewed below:
Senator Joe Manchin:
306 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510
P: 202-224-3954
F: 202-228-0002
Senator Shelley Moore Capito:
170 Russell Senate Office
Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-6472
Congressman Alex Mooney:
2228 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515
Congresswoman Carol Miller:
