Former teacher hopes Mannington Middle School benefits from endangered property status
FAIRMONT — After facing the possibility the school would be closed and the students merged with Blackshere Elementary, former technology teacher Rusty Elliott is now glad that Marion County Schools is taking steps to preserve the historic building that houses Mannington Middle School.
'It's one of those schools that was built in 1902,' Elliott said. 'And it's as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.'
In March, the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia announced Mannington Middle School had been added to the state's Endangered Properties List. School Superintendent Donna Heston told WAJR's Talk of the Town in March she hoped the designation opened up opportunities for the school similar to what Alderson Elementary School in Greenbrier County received. According to an article from November 2024, the former Alderson High School was renovated into an elementary school after the school district worked with the West Virginia School Building Association, DC Shires and The Thrasher Group's engineering division to refurbish the school.
'Structurally it is sound, we've had engineers come in and look at it,' Heston said about Mannington Middle on WAJR. 'Beautiful wood floors, it has a very historically rich structure as well as a historically rich library.'
Heston said Mannington Middle Principal Jane DeVaul, a group of parents and the Preservation Alliance did the work to move the school onto the endangered properties list.
The school faced closure as the county school system worked to put together a bond proposal for the 2024 election. However, the proposal was removed from the final bond before it was presented to voters.
Elliott said while the building is structurally sound, the roof could use replacing. In 2023, Marion County Schools had the Thrasher Group check the tower area of the school. The Board of Education instituted safety precautions around the tower in 2022. The inspection led the Board of Education to believe there were no significant structural issues with the school.
On its website, the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia wrote that the building was built in the Victorian Romanesque architectural style, and is a significant part of Mannington and the state's history. It's one of the oldest functional public schools in the state. The school was designed by an architectural firm out of Wheeling, and construction finished on the school in 1925.
'While still functional, the BOE, stretched thin, hopes its inclusion on this list will help with the preservation efforts for this outstanding building,' the alliance wrote on its website.
It added the Endangered Properties List is a powerful tool used by the alliance to raise awareness about threatened historic sites across the state. Earning a place on the list increases visibility, advocacy and access to preservation resources for historic places.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is also working on a Rural Historic Tax Credit which could potentially support preservation projects like the one in Mannington. The Rural Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act would reduce financial barriers to historic preservation in rural areas, alleviate burdens for small developers by boosting net proceeds and lowering compliance costs, as well as increasing access to capital to small towns who suffer from high construction costs but lower lease rates, which discourages developers.
Elliott said the building should be fixed up, and doesn't require a lot of work to keep up. He supports the school now being on the Endangered Properties List.
'Let's fix it up,' he said. 'It is a treasure in the state of West Virginia. Too many times we tear down our treasures and don't keep them going.'
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