Followers of the “Best of Zillow” Twitter account went wild when the 100-year-old Calhoun High School was listed for sale in Grantsville, West Virginia earlier this year.
The abandoned building’s Harry Potteresque architeecture was fodder for Twitter users speculating about potential occupants and uses, human world and otherwise.
“It caused such a big commotion,” explained Crystal Mersh, president of the school’s graduating class of 1982, “that it ignited an idea, a very large idea of how we could use the school to revitalize our community and create a model to be followed by other small towns in Appalachia.”
Mersh, CEO of a global management consulting company, donated $1 million to jumpstart the project.
A “Make Calhoun Great Again” sign greeted the 900 people who attended Saturday’s ceremonial brick-breaking. Roger Hanshaw, Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, spoke to the assembled crowd and hailed The 1982 Foundation’s efforts as an example of how “we as communities can change our destiny.”
The 1982 Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the goal of revitalizing Calhoun County through the creation of this self-funding, mixed-use community center.
When Calhoun County High was closed and abandoned in 1998, “it absolutely killed the town,” according to 1980 Calhoun County High graduate George Butt. “There were over fifty businesses at one point in time. Now there’s a handful.”
The school was the hub of the community. “There was always something going on at the school and the folks that lived out the furthest had a reason to be in Grantsville,” explained Butt, “Now, there’s no reason.”
Calhoun County High’s Class of 1982 purchased the 100-year-old building and is leading the charge behind the renovations.
Tieken, an Associate Professor at Bates College, noted that in many rural communities, schools are the largest employer. “They tie people together,” Tieken explained, “Once the schools are gone, the community loses all of these benefits: There are smaller crowds at the diner.”
The center will host summer and afterschool programs, such as STEM day camps to foster children’s desire to learn and to introduce them to opportunities for their futures.
Labor and materials for the project will be locally sourced as much as possible, injecting a much-needed source of work for the local merchants and tradesmen.
Abandoned in 1998, Calhoun County High used to be the social hub of the community. The 1982 Foundation has purchased the building and is turning it into a mixed-use community center that will breathe life back into the town and surrounding area.
West Virginia’s Speaker of the House of Delegates, Roger Hanshaw, and Secretary of Economic Development, Mitch Carmichael, attended the brick-breaking event and the 800-person festival on October 9, 2021 in the building’s honor. Mersh’s grandfather helped lay the original bricks for the building 100 years ago in 1921.
“We have excellent support from the community,” said Mersh, “The center is by far the biggest thing to have happened in Calhoun County for a very long time.”
Mersh, who went to nearby Fairmont State after graduating, credits “the fine people of this county for instilling values, hope, and dreams that are hard to find. All of us at the 1982 Foundation want that same kind of growing-up experience for the kids of this area for many years to come.”
Photos courtesy of The 1982 Foundation.
See Facebook page for The 1982 Foundation “Calhoun County Community Center”.