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OPINIONS
Editorial: Vacant buildings need new uses to protect neighborhoods
Huntington Mayor David Felinton has written a letter to the real estate agent for the Navy Reserve Building, which has been vacant for two years and is owned by the federal government, asking that the building be donated to the Healing Place of Huntington, a Louisville-based substance abuse center.
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Most people in Huntington had probably forgotten about the former Navy Reserve training building in Huntington's West End, next to the railroad tracks down by the Division of Highways offices. But its future and that of the building formerly known as West Middle School were topics of discussion at Monday night's Huntington City Council meeting.
The Navy Reserve building has about 10,000 square feet. It has been vacant for two years. It is owned by the federal government.
Cabell County Commissioner Bob Bailey would like to see the building turned into a community center. Mayor David Felinton would like to see it house a local operation of the Healing Place, a Louisville-based substance abuse recovery center. City Councilman P.D. Adkins says the training center would be a good site for business, given its location.
Felinton says the West Middle School building, now known as Huntington Middle School, would be a better site for a community center than the Navy Reserve center. The school has more space, and converting it into a community center would eliminate neighborhood concerns that it would lead to problems if it were to remain vacant after the new Huntington Middle School opens on the South Side in early 2010.
The West Middle building might not be the place for a community center, however. In a largely overlooked move, the Cabell County Board of Education last month agreed to a transfer the property to the Cabell County Community Service Organization to redevelop the building into apartments for senior citizens.
Felinton said officials of the Healing Place have toured more than a dozen available properties in the Huntington area, and the Navy Reserve building is their top choice. Felinton has asked the federal government to donate the building for use by the Healing Place.
The Tri-State community needs more substance abuse treatment facilities, and the Healing Place of Huntington would provide some of those needed services. But there is no clock ticking for getting the Healing Place of Huntington open.
There will be the usual NIMBYist voices arguing over which neighborhood should be the home for the Healing Place. Some people will argue the Healing Place should not be within city limits at all. They ignore the fact that Huntington has nearly half the total population of Cabell County, and it has the services that many if not most clients of the Healing Place will need.
If the people don't want the Healing Place in the West End, they need to suggest a better location and be ready to explain why it is better for the people the Healing Place will serve.
If the West Middle School redevelopment goes through, that avoids one problem in the West End. Apartments bring the around-the-clock presence of people and activity that drives away people who otherwise would turn the building into an eyesore or a danger to neighborhood residents.
It's imperative that the city, the school board and others involved in finding new uses for these properties work to bring them to productive use as soon as possible, before they become liabilities to the West End and the city as a whole.
