The former Staats Hospital building in Charleston was a previous FOCUS WV grant award winner. Crawford Holdings, LLC purchased the two buildings in June 2014. Crawford leased the one-story building to The Bullock Distillery in 2017 to start-up a distillery making gin, vodka, moonshine and bourbon. Bullock is currently expanding the building and plans to be in production by the fourth quarter of 2019. Crawford Holdings is working to find a long-term lessee for the four-story building.
The West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center at West Virginia University is seeking communities to apply for up to $5,000 in redevelopment assistance from the Foundations for Overcoming Challenges and Utilizing Strengths West Program. Applications for the FOCUS WV grant are due May 13.
The FOCUS WV Brownfields program helps communities create a redevelopment vision for brownfield properties of strategic community interest. Examples of activities eligible for funding include conducting environmental site assessments, developing project funding strategies, engaging project stakeholders, and procuring feasibility and design services.
Brownfields are abandoned or underutilized properties that have not been redeveloped due to real or perceived environmental barriers. Examples of brownfields include former gas stations, glass factories, machine shops, manufacturing and processing facilities, dry cleaners, mine scarred lands, abandoned schools and former railroad-related properties.
“The FOCUS WV Program offers communities a starting point to create a plan of action to turn community eyesores into assets,” said Patrick Kirby, director of the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center.
The program provides direct financial assistance to communities in the form of grants and helps eligible communities apply for additional state and federal support from other sources, such as federal redevelopment funds.
“A FOCUS WV grant can jumpstart a project into a position to compete for additional resources and expertise,” Kirby added.
The FOCUS WV Program encourages brownfield redevelopment and enhanced economic development across West Virginia by providing resources to:
- Enable communities to market and/or reposition challenging but strategic sites;
- Enhance a community’s ability to engage on strategic community development projects by understanding the resources available;
- Build the capacity of communities to develop and implement a redevelopment vision.
The FOCUS WV Program application and additional information can be found online at wvbrownfields.org or by calling Brownfields Director Patrick Kirby at 304.293.6984.
The FOCUS WV program is made possible by support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. The West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center is a program of the West Virginia Water Research Institute at the WVU Energy Institute.
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CONTACT: Patrick Kirby, Director
Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center
304.293.6984; Patrick.Kirby@mail.wvu.edu
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