For a farmers market to be successful, there has to be consistency, said Tim Forren, board president of the West Side Farmers Market. Finding vendors — like Terry Hudson (left) of Hudson Farms in Big Chimney — who commit to the market weekly is important, Forren said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When Tim Forren cracks open a chicken egg, he wants to see a golden yolk, not what he calls the wimpy, yellow color he sees in store-bought eggs.
That’s why Forren said he enjoys eating eggs from free-range chickens. He found some from a Roane County vendor at last weekend’s opening of the West Side Farmers Market in Charleston, said Forren, board president of the West Side Farmers Market.
The market on the corner of Washington and Beatrice streets in Charleston is one of nearly 80 farmers markets in the state — a number that has tripled in the last 10 years, said Larry Lower, president of the West Virginia Farmers Market Association.
About one-third of the markets in the state are no more than three years old, Lower said.
Farmers markets are also growing nationally, There were 7,175 farmers market in the U.S. in 2011 compared to 6,132 in 2010, a 17 percent increase, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1994, when the USDA began publishing the National Directory of Farmers there were only 1,755 markets listed.
“Ultimately I think people like markets because they can talk to the farmer, know if they use chemicals and put a face to their source of local fresh food,” said Lower, president of the Berkeley Springs Farmers Market. “With this whole green movement, people wanted healthy food by supporting local communities so people jumped on the bandwagon.”
He believes West Virginians do want to eat healthy, despite the state’s ranking as the second-most obese state in the nation, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly one of out every three state resident is obese, according to the CDC.
“We have a need for farmers markets because people are really trying to learn how to eat healthy. The way to eat healthy, naturally, is fruits and vegetables,” said Forren, who owns Forren Soil on Charleston’s West Side. “If we can educate people to eat healthy, maybe we can lose a little weight. People are realizing that they can eat healthy and they like the idea of doing it with farmers in the state.”
The local food movement reflects an increasing interest by consumers in supporting local farmers and in better understanding the origin of their food, according to Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues, a report from the USDA’s Economic Research Service.
Buying food at farmers markets cuts out the “middle man, which keeps the dollars circulating in the community,” Lower said. Transportation costs and packaging are also reduced.
The environmental movement encourages people to consider geographic dimensions in their food choices, the ERS report stated. Enhancing access to safe, healthy, and culturally appropriate food for all consumers is the goal of the community food-security movement, according to the ERS report.
“Over the past 10 years, there have been a lot of food scares because of contamination and agricultural activities when they ship across the U.S.,” Lower said. “What happens when something is contaminated in California and it is suddenly shipped all across the U.S. has caused a lot of people to be concerned about where their food comes from.”
That’s why the WVFMA, in partnership with the West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition and the WV Community Development Hub, is launching a pilot program to all farmers markets in the state. The two-year program will provide training and networking opportunities as well as business planning support to 10 selected markets, Lower said. Market managers will work with the 10 chosen markets to find out what is and isn’t working, he said.
The program is free for the farmers markets thanks to an $80,000 grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
“We need to find a more substantial way for communities who want to set up markets to improve their methods. That’s why we started this program,” Lower said. “The ultimate goal is to support and enhance the local food production and marketing in West Virginia.”
All farmers markets are different, he said. Some, like the West Side Farmers Market, feature numerous canopies spread across a parking lot where farmers sell their fruits, vegetables, eggs, meats, cheeses and salsas. The “luxury markets,” as Lower called them, have buildings so that people can buy local even when weather conditions are harsh (like Charleston’s Capitol Market).
Whatever the size of the market, the goal of the program is to understand how the community has organized around making the market successful, said Savannah Lyons, one of nine WVFMA board of directors members.
“We designed this program to look at the spread of different levels of development that markets have; from the small tailgate markets to the larger city markets that shut down a city block,” Lyons said.
The program will also create economic opportunities for farmers and vendors, she said.
“People think of farmers markets as not being serious business enterprises because they’re often community driven — and they don’t run themselves as a business — but they have the potential to serve as business incubators, and they do,” Lyons said.
The deadline to apply for the program is May 10. To find out more information about the market program or to learn more about farmers markets in the state, call Lower at 304-258-3815 or visitwww.wvfarmers.org. The 10 selected farmers markets will be announced later this month.
SOUTH CHARLESTON -At the Economic Development meeting in South Charleston Tuesday, area business leaders announced the opening of five businesses in and around Corridor G.These businesses include an engineering firm, a gas station, among others.
This announcement comes atop the news that Kanawha Valley Technical College will move 1,700 students to a new location at the Regional Technology Park.
The business community, said South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullen, is growing.
“We’ve taken a modern approach in South Charleston,” said Mullen.
Compare their growth to that of Charleston areas: The east end and the west side.
Charleston’s west side has seen six businesses open in the past 12 months, but had eight close. West Side Main Street Association President Pat McGill said many small startups have outgrown their locations and bigger locations on the west side are in such poor shape, they’re unusable.
Many buildings are being torn down and in their place will go a farmer’s market as a way to revitalize the struggling area.
“I think the recession is just hitting us,” said McGill.
On Charleston’s east end, two businesses have closed, but three have opened. East End Main Street Association President Ric Cavender said it’s businesses have responded to a ‘business friendly’ environment.
“We create something here unlike any other part of town and we’ve found businesses really responsive,” said Cavender.
Patricia McGill, standing at the corner of Tennessee Avenue and Washington Street West, is retiring after four years as director of the West Side Main Street program.
By Lori Kersey
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After four years of revitalization work on Charleston’s West Side, Patricia McGill is retiring. Wednesday will be the last day of work for McGill, the executive director of West Side Main Street.
Jenny Fertig, program leader for Community and Economic Development at the West Virginia State University Extension Office, which oversees WSMS, said McGill has been an asset to the program.
“Her administrative expertise was invaluable in getting this new organization structured and operating in a sound manner,” Fertig said. “Her personal passion for the revitalization of the West Side has translated into WSMS projects that are making visible and important contributions to the community-led revitalization.”
West Side Main Street can boast of a long list of achievements from the past few years, McGill said.
“I think probably the biggest accomplishments are getting new businesses to relocate to the West Side,” McGill said.
“This has been a deteriorated and blighted area for a number of years. We’re starting to be able to recruit businesses and 20 new businesses have relocated to the West Side in the past three years.”
McGill said she’s also proud of the two public art projects the program completed. One art project was a tile mural in the 1500 block of Washington Street West. Community residents and a professional artist painted the 700 small tiles in the mural.
The other was the Peer to Pier project, in which local artists, as a part of FestivALL, painted some of the columns that support the interstate at Washington Street West and Pennsylvania Avenue.
A native of Charleston, McGill said she’s lived away from the area, but always finds her way back.
“I keep coming back,” she said. “I think I’m going to stay here now that I’m retiring. I love it here.”
A West Side resident, McGill said she wanted to be a part of the Main Street program because she had always enjoyed community development.
“It’s something that’s a local investment,” McGill said. “It’s community-driven.”
The organization has nearly 200 volunteers working on various projects and events throughout the year.
While the West Side has come a long way, there’s still plenty more to do, McGill said.
The Main Street program works in increments, she said. It’s a slow pace that’s often discouraging for people, she said.
The nonprofit has a five-year plan for a streetscape project. Next on the list is the middle section of Washington Street, from Beatrice Street to Maryland Avenue. The streetscape plan depends on federal funding, which is often difficult to come by these days, she said.
West Side Main Street is also working with the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority board members to put a dog park in one of CURA’s vacant lots. It is also working to put a farmers market in a vacant lot at Beatrice and Washington. WSMS did a pilot project last year for the farmers market. This year the program received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the farmers market.
Fertig said the extension office has worked with the WSMS board to finalize a job description and they plan to post the position by mid-March. Those interested in applying will be able to find the posting at www.westsidemainstreet.org.
“I hope people continue to support the organization,” McGill said. “What they’re doing is really important and the revitalization of the West Side is an important activity. I hope people will stay energized in it. I think we’ve made really good progress and I’d like to see that continue.”
Reach Lori Kersey at lori.ker…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.
The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia is out with 2012 Endangered Properties list. It’s the group’s annual clemency plea for buildings they believe are important, and worthy of being saved from the wrecking ball.
On Charleston’s west side, the Alliance is focusing on the old Staats Hospital building, designed by the first registered black architect in the state.
It’s got asbestos problems, and is slated for demolition. That’s not uncommon for the kinds of buildings the Alliance tries to save because of their historic significance.
“Well, we need to preserve our history,” said Pat McGill, with West Side Main Street. “Its really important that future generations have the chance to see what happened before them. This is a beautiful old building has a lot of history has a lot of history on the west side.”
Other items on the 2012 list include:
•Old Clay County Courthouse, Clay County
•Arthurdale School Buildings, Preston County
•Northern Railroad Water Tower, Preston County
•Ft. McCoy, Greenbrier County
•Lynnside Manor, Monroe County
•Old First Baptist Church, Monroe County
•Fayette Feed and Fertilizer, Fayette County
•William and Mary Queen Store, Wayne County
•General Albert Gallatin Jenkins House and Plantation, Cabell County
•East Wheeling Historic District, Ohio County
Despite their efforts, two of the buildings on last year’s Endangered Properties list have been demolished.
That was the message Monday as Charleston’s two Main Street organizations kicked off a campaign aimed at supporting locally owned businesses and keeping dollars in the local economy.
According to a news release from East End Main Street and West Side Main Street, dollars spent in local businesses go twice as far as those spent in chain stores. “A locally owned business returns approximately 80 percent of each dollar spent back to the community, while a chain store returns only 40 percent back in the form of taxes and employee wages.”
Delegate Meshea Poore, D-Kanawha, an East End Main Street board member, gave state legislators brochures listing businesses in the East End and West Side they might need while in town — like dry cleaners, restaurants, etc.
“The district has many unique and wonderful businesses that may not be known to some of my legislative colleagues and this is a great way to inform them of the places they can dine, shop and be entertained,” Poore said in a prepared statement.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Call it the ultimate fixer-upper: 47,000 square feet, more or less, on four floors — not counting the morgue in the basement.
That’s the former Staats Hospital, the plum of the Elk City Historic District.
Larry Kopelman and his Genesis Capital partner, Charles F. Schoen, probably would give you a good deal on the building. They hold a deed of trust on the property, which is tied up in bankruptcy court after the previous owner, Dr. Adla Adi of St. Francis West Properties, defaulted on his loan from Genesis, Kopelman said.
There’s a catch, though — probably several of them.
“It’s an old building that needs complete remodeling,” Kopelman said. “You’ve got old-building issues. Heating and cooling needs to be totally replaced.”
Not to mention the leaky roof, the asbestos and lead paint, the broken elevators, shattered plaster, pigeon poop and the trash — mountains of trash.
Kevin Mullins gave some visitors a first-hand look on a recent guided tour. A computer network engineer by day and vocalist for the Esquires band by night, Mullins has been helping fellow band member Kopelman clean up the property and show it to potential developers.
Although the brick exterior of the Staats building has held up over the years, the interior is a different story. The place hasn’t changed much since Adi closed his office doors and moved to Florida, more than a year ago.
“He only used the first floor,” Mullins said. “The second, third and fourth floors haven’t been used since the 1970s.
“The basement isn’t really usable. That’s where the old autopsy room is.” The operating table is still there, he said.
Built in 1922 by the Staats brothers, the structure once was the commercial heart of the Elk City neighborhood on West Washington Street, just across the Elk River. It housed the 625-seat Grand Theater, the first movie venue on the West Side, plus an A&P grocery store and Kelley’s Department Store.
Historians say it was designed by John Norman, one of West Virginia’s first black licensed architects.
Staats Hospital occupied the second and third floors as late as 1982, according to one newspaper account, while the fourth floor was home to the Glendale Lodge of the Knights of Pythias.
Saint Francis Hospital bought the property, then sold it to Adi, who operated the Saint Francis West HealthCare clinic.
By all appearances, Adi focused his energy on operating the first-floor clinic, and used the upper floors as a repository for unwanted or unneeded materials. In 2003, he announced plans to tear the building down and build a new clinic in the rear. He never followed through.
The first floor is in relatively good condition, but the rest of building has deteriorated badly over the years. Bits of broken plaster, flakes of paint, old furniture, office supplies and random scraps of paper cover the floor in the maze of rooms on the second and third floors.
On the fourth floor, Mullins warned to steer clear of one room dotted with pigeon droppings, and to avoid the hole where rain from the leaking roof has rotted through the wooden floor.
He entered what once was the building’s showpiece, the lodge hall — except most of the vaulted ceiling has fallen, exposing the joists above. “You can still see the lodge insignia here, and here,” he said, pointing at the two end walls. “I think this was the original Knights of Pythias lodge hall.”
Lately, though, it’s been a garbage dump. “This was waist deep in trash,” he said.
Mullins has spent months cleaning up, trying to make the place more attractive for developers.
Kopelman hopes to get back at least some of the money he loaned Adi. Ownership is still tied up in bankruptcy court, he said.
“Genesis Capital has not decided what to do,” Kopelman said, but he and his partner don’t want to own the building. “We’ve got some effort in place in trying to find someone.”
That’s where Pat McGill comes in. As director of the West Side Main Street program, she’s been trying to save the building since 2010, when she heard Adi was planning to retire.
With Kopelman’s blessing, she’s been hunting for grant money and, in December, learned she’d won a $5,000 brownfields grant.
The Staats building was one of eight projects, and the first ever from Kanawha County, to win a grant through the FOCUS WV Program at the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center in Morgantown. A second center, at Marshall University, serves Southern West Virginia.
Under federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, the building qualifies as a brownfield because of its suspected asbestos and lead paint problems.
“We hope to do a Phase I assessment, a feasibility study to find out what could the property potentially be used for,” McGill said. “We’ve not had a lot of success finding a developer because of the unknowns for the environmental issues.
“The second step would be to apply for a $20,000 [State Historic Preservation Office] grant. You can use the money to hire consultants to look at potential uses or hire architects or engineers.”
The EPA definition of a brownfield is kind of broad, said Luke Elsor, project manager at the Morgantown center: “Any real property that is contaminated or perceived to be contaminated.”
That includes land, like old gas stations and apple orchards where pesticides were used. “They specifically included post surface-mining properties, which is important for West Virginia.” It includes structures, all sorts of factories and chemical plants, and any building where lead paint, asbestos floor tiles and/or asbestos insulation might have been used.
“That perception opens up a lot,” Elsor said. “A site is not going to be redeveloped because there’s a feeling it’s contaminated.” Developers shy away because of the uncertainty, he said.
“For all we know, the Staats Hospital is perfectly safe and clean, or it may be easily addressed.”
The project also would qualify for a $12,000 Stage II site design and project implementation grant, he said.
“The goal is market research. That can take the form of architectural studies, market analysis or site planning — trying to find the different pieces to the puzzle,” Elsor said. “Typically, a brownfield redevelopment project can take up to 14 investment partners.
“Nobody wants to see a space sitting empty. It’s a great opportunity to get a lot of people involved.”
Kopelman is ready to step in. “I hope that grant will create a concept for what to do with the building,” he said. “We would, if a group came forward, would finance. That’s what we do.
“We’re looking for anyone, either West Side Main Street as a conduit or a catalyst, or an independent third party. We’re willing to cooperate.”
Reach Jim Balow at ba…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.
OktoberWest Gears Up For Another Year in Charleston
Posted Thursday, October 13, 2011 ; 06:22 PM
Updated Thursday, October 13, 2011; 07:46 PM
West side businesses coordinate to make the festival a success.
CHARLESTON — The fourth annual OktoberWest Festival is just days away. There will be food, fun and music to celebrate the west side and its heritage. A lot of work goes into putting this event together according to organizers.
“A lot of businesses pull together to make it happen,” said Kathy Callahan, owner of Fountain Hobby shop. “A lot of interested west side people that live on the west side. We have about 80 volunteers, 80 to 90 volunteers that work on this. So it takes a lot to put on an event.”
While there won’t be a lot of immediate sales, organizers and volunteers said Oktoberwest will generate business down the line. “Most of your businesses are closed at this time of the evening,” said Callahan. “But it brings them down on the West Side and it gives them a positive feedback about the west side.”
Oktoberwest also gives local business owners a chance to visit with each other. “Most of your business owners here on the west side are family businesses,” said Callahan. “So they don’t get out of their business very often so this gives them an opportunity to buy a table and buy their family and interact with other business owners.”
OktoberWest is Saturday, Oct. 15 from 4-8 p.m., on Bigley Avenue in the lot behind Kelly’s Men’s Shop.
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted Monday, October 3, 2011 ; 05:44 PM
Updated Monday, October 3, 2011; 07:16 PM
Annual festival helps bring community together.
CHARLESTON – It’s that time again. Time to celebrate fall, and celebrate the West Side of Charleston. The fourth annual OktoberWest festival kicks off Saturday. Organizers said is a lot of fun, but this event is also bringing a community together.
“It’s really an old fashioned block party,” said West Side Main Street Executive Director Pat McGill. “It gets people out, it gets them over to the West Side to see what kind of things that we’ve been able to accomplish with revitalization and gets them used to coming to the West Side. We’re really pleased that it establishes a sense of community.”
But pulling this event off takes a lot of work. “[We have] lot’s of volunteers coming in,” McGill said. “We’ve got great sponsors this year and two new bands so we’re really looking forward to putting on a really nice event for the West Side.
This is the fourth year for OktoberWest, and organizers said it just keeps on getting bigger and better.
“We started out with around 700 people attending and last year we had about 1,200,” McGill said. “And this year we’re planning on having [more than] 1,500. So it’s grown every year. People have come to expect it as a fun event for the West Side.”
Oktoberwest kicks off with the dedication of the piers Saturday afternoon.
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted Monday, July 25, 2011 ; 05:45 PM
Updated Monday, July 25, 2011; 06:36 PM
Artists brave heat and unusual working conditions to complete murals. CHARLESTON – The Interstate Pier murals are nearing completion a full month ahead of schedule. Each one depicts an historic aspect of Charleston’s west side.
“People that walk by we tell them the stories of each of our pillars and they love the history and they love the work,” said Jeff Pierson, one of the pier artists. “They think it’s a great addition to their community and so we’re honored to be a part of that to to own a little color out their in the community.”
A good time maybe, but it hasn’t been without it’s challenges. “The circular format seemed like it was going to be quite a challenge,” said artist Charles Hamilton, “At first it was, ‘how do I do that?”
Pierson added, “The greatest challenge the heat and humidity. The humidity has played a huge role in trying to get these murals finished. Obviously we’re out here in the heat everyday and we’re getting used to the interstate noise, though we like it, it’s kinda a nice ambiance after a while.”
Hamilton agreed. “The heat’s been interesting, but I knew it would be hot,” he said.
While the aim of the painted pillars is to give back to the community, the artists themselves said they’ve been enriched by working with each other. “Most of us haven’t worked together,” said Pierson. “And this has been great for us to come out and be together as artists.”
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
As Washington Street rubberneckers have no doubt noticed, local artists are nearing completion of the “Peer to Pier” murals under the I-64 interstate bridge.
Artists have until September to complete designs but many seem poised to beat that deadline by more than a month.
Barrie Kaufman is almost finished with her Native American-inspired mural, “A Good Place to Plant Corn.”
“I wanted to do something Native American. I wanted bright colors and I wanted a female,” Kaufman, an art teacher at Mountaineer Montessori School in Kanawha City, said.
Her design features a woman in flowing Native American garb, her feet in the Kanawha River, with stalks of corn surrounding her on all sides.
“She’s probably a combination of a bunch of different kinds of tribes,” Kaufman said of her eight-foot-tall woman.
While she’s done most of the painting alone, Kaufman also has enlisted the help of her young art students.
Brothers Jonathan Harris, 4, Nicholas, 10, and Blake, 8, along with their friend T.J. Salango, 9, helped Kaufman sling paint Wednesday afternoon. Kaufman’s friend Nancy Johnson also helped out.
“It’s fun to sit here and people drive by and give us the thumbs up,” Johnson said.
She said she’s also seen several car accidents during her time under the bridge. Kaufman said the murals are turning driver’s heads, but haven’t caused any wrecks.
“My funniest story is, this guy drove up with a car full of paint and asked me to paint his bumper. I said no,” Kaufman said.
The project started as part of the city’s FestivALL activities, sponsored by the city’s Strong Neighborhoods Task Force.
Lori Brannon, a neighborhood planner with Charleston’s Planning Department and project manager for the pier project, said she’s only heard positive responses to the murals.
“The artists have all told me people are stopping by, giving them great comments, that they’d like to see more of it,” she said.
The city is interested in sponsoring more murals if funding is available, Brannon said.
Artists submitted proposals in March and a selection committee picked the designs in April. The committee chose 10 designs to cover the 10 interstate piers along Washington Street.
Charleston artist Charles Hamilton just started his column last week but hopes to have it finished by the end of next week.
