The Hub, Saint Albans, WV

The Hub, Saint Albans, WV Saving a historical building on 4th Ave, Saint Albans, WV to convert into a farmers market.

The city will tell you they only care about the safety of this building.After the fire Marshal shut us down in January, ...
05/01/2026

The city will tell you they only care about the safety of this building.

After the fire Marshal shut us down in January, we had a meeting with the fire chief. At that time he asked us why we were opposed to using this engineer.
We voiced our concerns it felt the city was using us to gather evidence against us, for them to demolish our building.

He asked why we thought the city would want to tear our buildings down.

We responded to him after our first meeting with the mayor his words were we are going to demolish that building.

The fire chief said that’s the first he heard of it. And assured us the city has no intention of tearing them down.

So explain to me why, after we got this engineer report back and we had a meeting, the city stated we can move forward after we submit a plan of action, and get issued a building permit, before that plan was even finalized, your fire marshal submitted an application for demolition of our building?

I understand the state got $10 million dollars this year for demolition work to be done through the REAP program. Money will be available in October. So it’s beneficial to drag this out on your end, smile to our faces tell us your working with us.

Question to you, now that I have walked away from this project because no one was going to let us do anything anyway, what’s your plan?

I was told by the fire marshal he was concerned about if the fire fighters have to respond to a fire in that building it may collapse on them. Then was informed by the state fire marshal there’s a process they don’t have to enter the building for circumstances like this.

So if this is about safety why are you putting your fire fighters at risk?

I told the city we were awaiting an environmental cleanup,
Was told that didn’t matter

Is the city now safer for it?

Told the city we were attempting to get grants. Was told we should have had the money for it upfront.

Does the city have the money upfront to demo this building? if I donate it to you today? Or do you have to wait on a grant?

As this building that the city argues is structurally dangerous sits there till October.

Is the city safer for it?

Let’s be honest the funding won’t even be approved till October, by the time Rodney Loftis can get to it it’ll be January-February time frame. So a year since the city started this?

According to city time keeping that just short of 3 years for those following along.

So I owned this building a year was told that I’m irresponsible, and deserve the full weight of this administration to come down on me to force me to fix this building because it’s unsafe.

And then you stop all work make it impossible to work on it force me to jump through hoops so you can let it sit there for a year.

I understand the city has control over it so now the city must be safer, right?

Then you try to paint us as people who are broke and careless who do not care about safety. Lie to our face about demolishing our buildings, saying you are working with us as you are actively applying for grants to demo our buildings.

This never had anything to do with safety. This solely was about money.

So yes I am washing my hands clean of this. The city has a financial incentive to see this building knocked down.

That building in its current state owes around $6,000 a year in property taxes. Plus the city charges a 1% b&o tax on every dollar a business earns.

They wish to see this turned into a grass lot. And they will scream and cry they have no money to provide services to their constituents.

They aren’t just taking from me. They are taking from you and your children as well.

For what? I’m assuming someone’s short term gain.

So it’s ok, the city can try to paint me as the villain. I came to build something, to invest my time, and money. As these two letters show they came to destroy.

04/28/2026

I want to clear some things up. We have owned this property for just over 1 year the city will argue we have owned this property for 3 years because the county tax department has retroactively dated our purchase sooner so they could collect the 2 years back taxes owed on the property. Within that 1 year we have owned said property we did remove “some” debris. 22 tons of scrap metal and 180 cubic yards of garbage. Preparing the property for renovation.

We got the deed around Nov 2024
Had meetings with the DEP in Feb 2025
Scheduled phase 1 environmental and scheduling for soil samples for epa

By Aug/Sept timeframe the EPA did soil samples and scheduled for cleanup for Feb 2026

We went on a standby mode waiting for EPA to do their removal because we did not want contaminated soil being spread all over the town

Jan 2026 the city came along and told us they have been patient with us and we haven’t done anything.

At that time I was informed that I should have known the responsibility of owning a building and its cost

I informed them I was awaiting soil removal action by the epa and was then told he has to worry about the safety of his fire men entering the building

So that’s how your city responded. They don’t care if construction crews spread lead, nickle, arsenic, and chromium around a residential neighborhood.

He issued a stop order not only to me which I was doing no work he stopped the dep and epa from doing their job.

We had a meeting with the fire chief Jared Page, David Rucker

They wanted a structural engineer and didn’t see why we would be opposed to a free engineer

We at that time voiced our concerns that the way we have been handled it felt like the city was just using this engineer to gather more evidence for the city’s case against us

At that meeting we brought up an article from the fire marshal that stated he forced a bussiness to sell to someone more capable of complying with the city

The engineer report came back with things we were already aware of and then his concern that the second floor could not meet loading standards to make the upstairs a convention area

So next meeting we had with the city I requested it to be scheduled after 4, my wife works for the national guard and couldn’t be there till then. Next word I head was people from the city couldn’t make it at 4 so they are having the meeting at 1. Fine way to set the mood

After I requested city councilors be present it was moved to 3:30

We walk into this meeting with an email on top of the engineer report from the state historic preservation office that said it was ok to tear the building down. Once again setting the mood.

In this meeting we were informed that we needed to get permission from the thrasher group to enter the property. Then they proceeded to tell us we needed to come up with an improvement plan. We agreed. But then came the discussion of timelines.

So we still needed to complete the environmental remediation. Was awaiting the asbestos testing. The front brick needed secured back brick secured back wall on the storefront torn down rebuilt both roofs replaced and the wanted the second floor joists flooring everything ripped out replaced.

The fire marshal stated it should all be done in 1 year

The building inspector said we would review it in 1 year

So I left the meeting and immediately called the thrasher group to ask them permission to enter my property like I was told to

He informed me he had no authority to deny me access

So I texted that response to a group chat that includes the mayor

I texted he don’t have the authority to stop me or my contractors the mayor’s response was “but city officials do”

We submitted our plan of action and were informed the fire marshal has concerns. I don’t know what they are.

The epa is now rescheduled to be done in may due to the city delaying them and I will be there to accept that clean up

Asbestos came back with minimal contamination and the brownfields program has a grant for that cost

My wife and o have been renovating buildings for 15 years across 3 counties we are capable and willing to fix these buildings we had money on standby to fix these structures the cost or size of this project wasn’t that big of a deal

So to clarify the city came off hostile told us we have to ask permission to enter our own property created unrealistic timelines telling us when to work on this, how to work on this.

I’m not trying to get out of it due to cost

I’m selling this solely because of the city’s behavior.

And once again Nov 2024-Jan-2026 is not 3 years

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the city wins. I give up and we are walking away from this project. If you or anyone you kno...
04/27/2026

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the city wins. I give up and we are walking away from this project. If you or anyone you know are interested in acquiring the property shoot us a message.

04/01/2026

This is the LAST DAY to sign up to help your county “go green” for the county sign up challenge. One participant from each of the qualifying counties will receive a Grow This prize pack full of garden goodies! 🏆🌱

Sign up is free and you will receive your Black Cherry Tomato seeds in the mail. Sign up link in the comments 👇

03/16/2026

Current status update:

We were approved to use the grant for asbestos testing and the structural analysis. Asbestos testing and the structural analysis were completed last week. The Thrasher Group said we should have those reports back this week if the labs finish their tests and the engineer gets his report done. Found out it’s just a visual analysis, but we did get to ask the engineer some questions while he was on site. Hoping to be able to sit down with him more once we can read everything over.

Then schedule another meeting with the Fire Chief and Fire Marshall to be able to start moving forward again.

CERCLA is waiting for the report to finalize thier time frame and plans. Currently looking at April from our last communication with them.

We’ve been in contact with the Preservation Alliance and found out about some classes they are offering in May for brick preservation and rehabilitation.

We’re really just at a waiting game until we get these reports back and then reopen discussions on moving forward. Not a lot going on, and just sitting on our thumbs really.

02/06/2026

Oh what a year it has been.
My wife and I made the foolish mistake to have big dreams, we made the plunge to place a bid on the old Leonard’s Chrome Plating building on 4th Ave. You all know the one, right by the train station on that absolutely beautiful brick street. It would take us over a year to secure the deed from the state. During that time of patiently waiting, we made contact with our lovely building department and informed them that we were acquiring the property, and informed them we were awaiting for the deed. For the next several months we immediately started to tackle the 40 years of neglect on the yard.

Finally Dec 2024 the deed had been approved, we were now the proud owners of an EPA superfund removal site. We immediately attempted to make contact with the appropriate agencies to start this project. The wv DEP advised we get a phase 1 environmental study done. As of Feb 2025 it was completed.

As we patiently waited for the EPA, we were advised not to disturb the dirt. So during that time we removed 22 tons of scrap metal. 6 thirty yard dumpsters of garbage just to even see the inside of the structure. Started to remove the plywood from the building, removed the metal off the building and started to replace glass in the long forgotten windows. I would like to thank the city public works guys for picking up the impossible amounts of brush and trash from the side yard. You are amazing.

Around August 2025 the EPA was finally able to perform soil samples, which three spots came back hot for lead and nickel. We started to work on a removal plan. Which we got scheduled for Feb/March 2026 time frame. All this time we have been constantly communicating with the building department of what was happening, always asking if there was anything that needed done. The answer was always no we were doing fine.

Around June 2025 we decided we didn’t have enough to do so we acquired an additional distressed property on the block 417 4th Ave. immediately talked to the building department about the acquisition. He had concerns cause it has been an issue for 30 years, asked us to write him out a pan of action, we wrote it out for a 2 year time frame. His main concern at the time was water entering the structure and plywood that was covering the damage.

In 8 months we have owned that building it has a new roof repainted, tree has been removed windows repaired, water, gas, sewage, and heat restored.

Then this brutal winter has hit.
Out of the blue I get stopped by the fire marshal, informing me he has been patient with me, but he is ordering a stop work order on the property, until we are able to get a structural analysis on the property done. We immediately reached out to firms and was quoted $15-20 thousand dollars for a piece of paper to tell me I need to fix the building that I had every intention of fixing. The fire marshal did inform me there is a grant that would cover it and he helped reach out to set it up. Due to the fact we are a superfund site we may or may not qualify.

This order stops all work on the property including the environmental cleanup. Had a meeting with the mayor, talked to a couple councilors who would answer the phone. The only answer I was given is comply.

Just got home tonight and received a letter from the building department that states the duplex we have been working on needs to pay a $250-$500 vacant building registration fee. Even though we have been rehabilitating the building.

All while across the alley there is a cottage that floors are rotted out, vines are tearing it apart. Beside it is a beautiful Victorian house boarded up had its HVAC system stolen. All the neighbors have had to barricade their yards due to theft. Between my property is a rental house that is owned by a big real estate lawyer, the roof has more caulking then shingles brush pushing into the road and along fence lines. Across the street from my property is a city owned building that has had a busted window for as long as I remember. The train station the city brags about has a rotting roof line due to gutter and down spout failure. And at the end of street is the Latz lumber building with a failing section of roof.

I have spent countless hours chasing homeless drug addicts. Been robbed at that building. Had my property vandalized. I had to make the calls to get street lights replaced. Even had to cut the grass on the city lot when the city fail behind.

All we wanted to do is improve the town we grew up in. Taking on the majority of a blighted neighborhood, on our own, out of our own pocket. Never did I think I would receive such pushback from the city. How is it easier to deal with the EPA than it is to deal with this town?

I have seen arguments all over this app on why Saint Albans is in decline, I present this to you as my experience, not to bash anyone in the process.

01/17/2026

Update for what’s been going on behind the scenes.

CERCLA is expected to be out around March/ April to finish remediation and the property will be environmentally cleared without property limitations. Waiting on the day the contractors will be out.

We’ve had 7 different roofers out trying to get a quote, all unsuccessful. We finally found one that is willing to work with us and that is willing to do the work, and we are ever so thankful to have that lined out!

We found a mason for the back wall of the Store front. (If you’ve ever tried to find a Mason, I’m sure you can understand how hard those are to find.) We are waiting for the weather to get above freezing for that work to start. (Looking at March time frame).
The tree in the back was gurdled a few months back to kill it, hopefully it will make taking it down easier this time around.

Once the wall is fixed we can work on the roof on that side. We’ve had a few people that said that part would not be a hard fix once we’re ready.

Happy New Year everyone!We wrapped up 2025 with getting the fence that was falling down repaired with new boards, holes ...
01/01/2026

Happy New Year everyone!

We wrapped up 2025 with getting the fence that was falling down repaired with new boards, holes redrilled, concrete set and reused the metal panels as they were in remarkably good condition.

We also shortened the overall length to open the ally a little more for viability and in hopes of having trashed moved to the back of the building once we fully open (fingers crossed)

Before anyone asks 😂, The pole height is to accommodate string lights later that will not interfere with venders tent canopies. It should clear thier tents by a few feet so there won’t be concerns or issues with anyone accedentaly pulling them down.

We will get it pressure washed and repainted when the weather warms up.

Just before Train Day, Ms. Pauley from the SA Hystorical Society did some touch up on the bottom signage on the building...
10/06/2025

Just before Train Day, Ms. Pauley from the SA Hystorical Society did some touch up on the bottom signage on the building. She did a wonderful job trying to preserve the lettering.

We’re currently working with her on a sign for the top portion that will help preserve what is still there and also allow us to add our own touch.

Address

405 4th Avenue
Saint Albans, WV
25177

Telephone

+13042053293

Website

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