News

On Friday, October 22, the Edsel Smith, Assistant State Fire Marshal,

closed the historic Weston State Hospital indefinitly, canceling planned tours. However, despite the closure and with the Fire Marshal’s blessing, the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee will host the Haunted Maze outside on the hospital grounds on October 29, 30, and 31, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. For further information, email [email protected].

The headlines in Saturday’s Clarksburg newspaper tells it all:

Quoted from Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram, Saturday, October 23, 2004:

“Fire Marshal shuts down old hospital: Says Weston State Hospital building unsafe for public.”

Assistant State Fire Marshal Edsel Smith on Friday closed the old Weston State Hospital indefinitely, canceling planned tours.

The shutdown order also is force the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee to move three museums and a retail shop for sourvenirs, said committee chair Joy Stalnaker.

The hospital houses the Mountaineer Military Museum, the West Virginia Toy Museum and the West Virginia Mental health museum, all of which are on the first floor.

“He had a long list of things that were wrong. Some of the things he told us about last year, but I thought we had time to fix them. Some of the things I didn’t even know about,” Stalnaker said.

Fire code violations at the historic former asylum include a lack of proper emergency exits and lighting and an excessive number of extension cords, Smith said. he had inspected the site last year and said he told the committee about the violations.

When he heard about planned lantern tours and haunted maze, Smith revisited the facility to see if the violations had been fixed.

“Things I had previously required had not been followed through,” Smith said. “The big big problem is exiting. There were some issues with safety in getting people out of there, so I decided to close the hospital.”

Smith also was concerned about the number of people inside the hospital. He previously had agreeed to allow 25 people at a time inside and was concerned about the museums and store.

Friday’s announcement was a huge blow for the revitalizaiton committee, which has been working for several years to fix the building. Proceeds from the store and tours helped fund the revitalizaiton effort.

Earlier this year, URS Corp of Charleston completed a federally funded study of the hospital. The report showed that it will cost more than $7 million to stabilize the facility until a new use can be found.

The report calls for spending $3.4 million for structural problems, $3 million for water and drainage problems and $800,00 for miscellaneous repairs.

URS now is working on drawings to fix the roof and replace the electrical system, Stalnaker said. That work should begin in the spring, she said.

The URS study was paid for with a “Save America’s Treasures” grant from the national Park Service, which also included about 41.2 million for initial repairs.

Stalnaker spent much of Friday scrambling to find a suitable building in Weston that is not only large enough for the museums and store, but that the committee can afford to rent.

“It’s a sad day; it really is. We’re going to have to have a meeting to see where we go from here,” she said.

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In December 2003, the Weston Hospital Task Force contracted with McKinley & Associates, Wheeling, WV, and Economics Research Associates, Washington, D.C., to conduct a study to examine the potential for reuse of the property and its economic and financial implications. In September, the contractors completed their work and submitted their final report to the Task Force.

During the study the contractors explored numerous reuses and narrowed those to the best three based on various factors. The three suggested reuses: resort with casino; senior housing, and back-office. Executive Summary

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WHRC Announces Plans for 2004 Tourist Season

Special lantern tours of the historic Weston State Hospital will be held on the Friday evenings of October 22 and 29 and Saturday evenings of October 23 and October 30, between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Guides will share stories of the hospital’s past as they lead groups through three floors of the central tower area to view patient rooms, seclusion areas, the chapel area, and certain exterior sites.

The tour is not for the faint-of-heart as the climbing of three flights of stairs is required. Tourists should come dressed for the weather as the building is unheated.

“We do not make any attempt to frighten people during these tours,” says Joy Stalnaker, chairperson of the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee, sponsor of the tours. “If people get spooked, they do it to themselves. Our goal is to share the history of the hospital and the people who were patients here.”

Visitors will also have the opportunity to visit the Mountaineer Military Museum, the West Virginia Toy Museum, and the West Virginia Mental Health Museum, all of which are on the first floor of the building.

These tours are in addition to the regularly scheduled tours which are given each Friday (11 a.m. – 3p.m.), Saturday (10 a.m. – 3 p.m.) and Sunday (noon – 3 p.m.) through October 31. Held under the direction of the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee, they will culminate a successful season of visitation to the old hospital. Charge for the tours is $5/adults, $4/senior citizens, $3/children twelve and under. Admission to the museums is free.

The Weston Hospital is a Registered National Landmark and considered to be the largest hand-cut stone building in North America. Constructed between the years of 1858 and 1882 as the Trans-Allegheny Asylum for the Insane, the hospital treated several thousand patients during its 130-year use as a hospital. It closed in May 1994 as a result of changing treatment for mental illness and the opening of the new mental health facility, the William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital at Weston.

The hospital is reached by following Route 33-119 west from Exit 99 of I-79. Directional signs will be posted during the tours.

For further information, call 269-1123.

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Firm Takes Option to Buy Old Hospital 500-Room Hotel Part of Plans

by Gail Marsh

A California-based corporation has taken an option on the old Weston State Hospital property, with plans to develop a destination resort center and to revitalize downtown Weston.

Mountaineer Group L.L.C., represented locally by Lowell Davis, gave the state Department of health and Human Resources a check for $25,000 for the option. The DHHR has oversight of the old hospital, vacant now for about 10 years.

Davis presented the money to David Hildreth, a DHHR representative , during a specially called meeting of the Weston Development Authority on Tuesday morning. By accepting the money, the state agrees to give Mountaineer six months to obtain financing and devise a construction schedule for the hotel/gold course/entertainment and shopping complex.

Davis said plans have been in the works for this project for nearly two years. Tuesday’s announcement was just one more step in the plan.

“You wouldn’t believe the background work and research that has taken place. The hardest thing was convincing the state that we could do it, and now they’re giving us that opportunity,” he said.

The Mountaineer Group L.L.C will keep temporary offices at the Development Authority office on main Avenue. Frank Moots, executive director, said, “this is a great day for Weston, for Central West Virginia, for the whole sate.

“A native son of Weston is returning home soon as the president and CEO of mountaineer Group L.L.C with the purpose of development and revitalizing the city and developing a destination resort center, at a cost of $300 million,” he said.

Moots credits the strong support of both local and state representatives, including Sen. William R. Sharpe Jr., Governor Bob Wise, Mayor Jon Tucci and City Council, the WDA Board and also citizens who sent letters of support for helping to bring this opportunity together.

“I look forward to working with the local citizens and inviting anybody in the area to develop retail or other businesses alongside this project,” he said.

Moots said Weston has been receptive to the idea of a resort center and he believes it could be come a shining star in the state. Plans include a 500-room hotel, a PGA golf course, horseback, biking and walking trails, a 3,000-seat theater and the development of several businesses in the downtown area.

Few details of Mountaineer Group L.L.C were released, but Moots said there will be more plans forthcoming in the next few weeks. Representatives from the group are expected to visit Weston some time in April.

“We wouldn’t have released this today if we didn’t believe it was going to move forward,” Moots said after the meeting.
– Weston Democrat

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Mothballing to Cost $7.1 M

The Weston Hospital Task Force (WHTF) has received the Facility Condition Assessment and Mothballing Report of the former mental hospital located at Weston, Lewis County. The report, a requirement of and financed by a Save America’s Treasures grant from the National Park Service and an equal match from the West Virginia Legislature, was completed by URS, a nationally recognized architectural, engineering, and planning firm with offices in Charleston, West Virginia.

The hospital, purportedly the largest hand-cut blue sandstone building in North America, has been vacant since 1994 when the last patient was moved to the newly completed William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital nearby.

The mammoth building is now the focus of a campaign by the Task Force and its sister non-profit group from Lewis County, the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee, Inc., (WHRC), for an adaptive reuse and the preservation of this valuable artifact of West Virginia’s culture and history. The hospital’s importance to America’s heritage was highlighted in 1990 when it was recognized as a National Landmark by the U.S. Department of Interior.

Empty for more than a decade, the building is subject to progressive deterioration. A leaking roof, many windows missing or non-functional, dozens of trees growing out the foundation, and some of the stone walls crumbling, all highlight the building’s continuing battle with rain, snow, ice, and wind that batter it every season of the year.

The first step toward an adaptive reuse is arresting the deterioration, to make the building sound and “mothball” it while plans are developed and implemented for its future use. The report is the first step in that process.

The mothballing plan addresses structural and water intrusion issues and miscellaneous problems in various locations throughout the structure, projects the costs for repairs at prevailing wages, and establishes priorities and provides some alternatives for the work based on funding available.

Estimates of construction costs for all issues are $7.1 million. Structural issues are projected to be $3.4 million; water intrusion issues, $3 million; and all other issues, $800 thousand.

The most costly single issue with a $1.4 million price tag is the repair or replacement of the some pre-cast concrete floor framing in two sections of the first floor where there are signs of distress. These floors were installed in the 1950s and replaced the original wood floors and framing.

Ranking second is the restoration of all repairable windows and doors and replacement of others for approximately $1 million. Alternately, boarding up all windows until a reuse is found would cost $239,011.

The least expensive repair is the replacement of the wood decking in the clock tower at $2,117.

On the other hand, some items in the report have been or will be addressed by the WHRC and its volunteer members. During the initial phases of the study, the WHTF learned that there were 65 trees, mostly cedars, growing along the foundation line with some of the roots invading the stones. Several trees were four stories tall and their foliage was abrasive to the stone walls and holding moisture in it. URS estimated the cost for their removal to be in excess of $25,000.

A member of the WHRC volunteered to remove the trees. The WHTF granted permission with instructions to cut the trees and treat the stumps and roots to hasten their decay. The WHRC bought a chain saw. Another member loaned his tractor to move the trees. The Stonecoal Fishing Club was given permission to take some of the treetops for fish shelters at Stone Coal Lake. The remaining trees were hauled to the neighboring hospital farm property where they are providing shelter for wildlife. Thus, the cost of tree removal was reduced to less than $500.

URS implemented the study with a team of architects and engineers from their offices in Charleston, Columbus, and Washington, D.C. and consulting firms with experience in roofs and historic buildings.

The team devoted several days to on-site visits during fall and early winter 2003. They explored and photographed every reachable nook and cranny from the top of the 200-foot tower to the deepest reaches of the tunneled basement inspecting plumbing, wiring, heating systems, beams and bracing, roofs, stones, bricks, etc. They studied the few extant drawings and interviewed maintenance persons and others who had previously worked in the building.

As URS compiled and assessed the data, they submitted working reports to the Task Force for comment and input.

The Conditions Assessment Committee of the WHTF is currently studying the report and the seven phases recommended by URS in the mothballing plan. Decisions about the best way to spend the remaining $1.25 million of the Save America’s Treasures grant in accordance with the assessment plan will be made in March or April. From that point, the Task Force will follow state procedures to design the repairs and to bid the work.

The Weston Hospital and its surrounding acreage is owned by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. By the executive order of past governor Cecil Underwood in October 2000 and confirmed by Governor Wise in 2001, the Weston Hospital Task Force is charged with managing the Save America’s Treasures grant and overseeing its adaptive reuse. Members of the Task Force are Susan Pierce, representing Culture and History; David Hildreth, DHHR; Monica Miller, West Virginia Development Office; Dan Massey, West Virginia Development Office; Andre Nabors, West Virginia Tourism; Robert J. Conley, Lewis County Commission; Charles Stalnaker, Joel Flaxer, and Joy Stalnaker, the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee.

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WHRC Announces Plans for 2004 Tourist Season

Events for the coming tourist season were solidified by the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee (WHRC) last week. Activities at the hospital location include the opening of two museums, a showing of the Little Kanawha Riverboat Exhibit and three festivals in June. Guided tours of the historic facility will be given Saturday, May 15, and the weekends of June 5-6 and June 26-27. Hours on Saturdays (May 15, June 5, and June 26) will be 10 a.m. 4 p.m. Hours on Sundays will be 12:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m.

The group’s headquarters and store, The Grand Old Dame Gift Shop, 115 E. Second Street, will remain open Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Activities for July and August, including the tour schedule, will be announced at a later time.

The Mountaineer Military Museum and the West Virginia Toy Museum will open exhibits on the first floor of the Central Tower section of the hospital.

The Mountaineer Military Museum, which was formerly located on Main Avenue in Buckhannon, will feature the collection of Ron and Barbara McVaney of Buckhannon. The collection contains items representing World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The exhibit was given a preview at the historic hospital during the Autumn in the Hills Festival and Halloween activities last fall.

“We are excited to be a part of the activities at Weston,” says B. McVaney. “We’re beginning the work to put the collection in place next week.

“Our collection started as a promise. Four childhood friends grew up in Harrison County. All were drafted for military service together. They made a promise to each other. . . to ‘never forget.’ One was sent to Germany, three to Vietnam. . . one came home. Now the curator and owner of this collection, my husband, is keeping the promise.

“We are so excited to be a part of the activities here. Yes, we know that this may only be a stop along the way, that something else may well happen at the hospital; but, in the meantime, we can move forward with Ron’s Promise.”

The toy museum, a collection of more than 7000 pieces, is the work of Rob Cottrill, also of Buckhannon.

The special license issued by DHHR to the Mountaineer Group, L.L.C permits that group to have unlimited access to the property as they pursue their option. However, the option DOES NOT supercede any previous contracts between DHHR and other entities in force at the time the license was signed, meaning that the WHRC can continue their activities at the historic hand-cut stone building.

However, the installation of lights at the entrance to the hospital planned by the WHRC for this spring is postponed while the Group pursues their option on the property. Should the Mountaineer Group be successful in their bid, the WHRC will re-organize as a historic group for Weston and divert their funds and efforts to the preservation of the town’s historic buildings.

“We wish the Group well in the pursuit of their option,” said Joy Stalnaker, chairperson of the WHRC. “We have decided to continue our activities for two reasons. First, if they are successful, this will be the last year that the public will be able to tour the hospital and see what it was like as a hospital. Secondly, if they do not succeed, there will be a need for us to continue our work. It would be hard to re-start if we quit completely, so we voted to continue. In the end, our work, whether it is for the preservation of the hospital or for the preservation of some of Weston’s other historic buildings, will be for the betterment of the community.”

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Firm Takes Option to Buy Old Hospital 500-Room Hotel Part of Plans

by Gail Marsh

A California-based corporation has taken an option on the old Weston State Hospital property, with plans to develop a destination resort center and to revitalize downtown Weston.

Mountaineer Group L.L.C., represented locally by Lowell Davis, gave the state Department of health and Human Resources a check for $25,000 for the option. The DHHR has oversight of the old hospital, vacant now for about 10 years.

Davis presented the money to David Hildreth, a DHHR representative , during a specially called meeting of the Weston Development Authority on Tuesday morning. By accepting the money, the state agrees to give Mountaineer six months to obtain financing and devise a construction schedule for the hotel/gold course/entertainment and shopping complex.

Davis said plans have been in the works for this project for nearly two years. Tuesday’s announcement was just one more step in the plan.

“You wouldn’t believe the background work and research that has taken place. The hardest thing was convincing the state that we could do it, and now they’re giving us that opportunity,” he said.

The Mountaineer Group L.L.C will keep temporary offices at the Development Authority office on main Avenue. Frank Moots, executive director, said, “this is a great day for Weston, for Central West Virginia, for the whole sate.

“A native son of Weston is returning home soon as the president and CEO of mountaineer Group L.L.C with the purpose of development and revitalizing the city and developing a destination resort center, at a cost of $300 million,” he said.

Moots credits the strong support of both local and state representatives, including Sen. William R. Sharpe Jr., Governor Bob Wise, Mayor Jon Tucci and City Council, the WDA Board and also citizens who sent letters of support for helping to bring this opportunity together.

“I look forward to working with the local citizens and inviting anybody in the area to develop retail or other businesses alongside this project,” he said.

Moots said Weston has been receptive to the idea of a resort center and he believes it could be come a shining star in the state.

Plans include a 500-room hotel, a PGA golf course, horseback, biking and walking trails, a 3,000-seat theater and the development of several businesses in the downtown area.

Few details of Mountaineer Group L.L.C were released, but Moots said there will be more plans forthcoming in the next few weeks. Representatives from the group are expected to visit Weston some time in April.

“We wouldn’t have released this today if we didn’t believe it was going to move forward,” Moots said after the meeting.
– Weston Democrat

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PRESS RELEASE

The Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee (WHRC), a non-profit organization supporting the development and preservation of the historic Weston State Hospital, will be hosting special tours for secondary school classes beginning March 26 and continuing through the end of the current school year.

The forty-minute escorted tours will focus on the hospital’s impact on West Virginia’s unique and varied history. Experienced tour guides will discuss the role of the hospital in West Virginia’s statehood movement and its part in the Civil War, the use of native natural resources to create an architectural masterpiece, the contributions of immigrants to our state’s culture and work ethic, and the history of the treatment of the mentally ill in the state and nation.

Students will visit three floors of the central tower building in small groups of 15-20 students.

Picnicking on the grounds is available for classes, weather permitting. A limited number of folding tables are available.

“We are excited about this new dimension in our efforts to preserve this West Virginia treasure,” said Joy Stalnaker, chairperson of the WHRC.

“We had considered doing school tours. When a teacher at Lewis County’s Robert L. Bland Middle School called and requested tours for the 200 eighth graders there, we said yes and began to develop a program that fits West Virginia History curriculum. Our own kids, the Lewis County ones, will be the first school tour. “

“The more people who know about this mammoth structure, the more attention that is drawn to it, the better our opportunities to find a good re-use for the building and preserve it for future generations. Students, especially those who are studying our state’s history, get excited about what they see and go home and talk about it. They tell their grandparents, their aunts and uncles, and others.

“It is said that each of us are only seven people removed from everyone else in the world,” she concluded. “Maybe the seventh person removed from one of these students will be the person or persons who have the desire and the means to redevelop it to the benefit of the building, the community and the state.”

Yonnie Southall, WHRC secretary-treasurer, looks at it from a different aspect. “The small fee of $2 per student and $3.50 for adult chaperones will be added to similar donations from public tours and be used for preservation projects throughout the campus,” she says.

“Right now we are getting bids to light the flag poles and the gated entrance. We began this with some fundraisers last year. We hope to have it completed in time for our regular tour season which opens in May.”

The hospital is crafted of native blue sandstone quarried mostly from the West Fork riverbed and nearby hills in Lewis County. Construction began in 1858 while this area was still Virginia; but it was halted when Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861. Construction resumed by the new West Virginia government near the end of the war. The first patient was admitted in October 1864. The last patient was transferred to the new William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in May 1994. The building closed. Since that time, there have been ongoing efforts to find a successful adaptive reuse.

The WHRC was formed in 2000 by the Lewis County Commission to assist the state in the effort. Since that time, more than 40 volunteers have joined the group. Their accomplishments include fixing the tower clock so that it again serves as the town’s “timepiece”, restoration of the fountain, repair of more than 60 window glasses, and the hosting of several special festivals focusing on the hospital.

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Group Tries to Preserve W.Va. Hospital

By VICKI SMITH
Associated Press Writer

WESTON, W.Va. (AP)–In some ways, Weston Hospital is frozen in time. Handwritten notes from nurses still hang in some wards, as if the mental patients who left nearly 10 years ago might suddenly return.

But slow decay is more apparent in the vast stone building with its dark, frigid hallways: Peeling paint. Damp wood. Broken windows. Clogged gutters spouting small trees.

Decay, however, is not what Joy Gilchrist Stalnaker sees as she walks through a building born 139 years ago, before West Virginia was even a state. She sees a lady-in-waiting–a historical and architectural treasure with some new but as-yet-unknown destiny.

Stalnaker is part of a small but determined volunteer army, now more than three dozen strong, trying to stop the deterioration, spruce up where possible and find a way to put the hospital, eight ancillary structures and some 280 acres back into use.

The members of the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee have raised $30,000 since 2002, doing anything they can to focus attention on the building. They have conducted tours and staged flower sales, barbecues, festivals and street theater. They’ve even opened a gift shop and are selling postcards of the hospital for the first time in 40 years.

With their earnings, they replaced some 60 window panes, scraped countless buckets of loose paint and cut down dozens of trees with roots that had begun to damage the foundation. They replaced stolen newel posts, fixed the tower clock, rebuilt the fountain and cleaned up the mess that intruders left after a paintball battle.

The volunteers also installed a water line up to the edge of the building and hope to get utilities turned on in the spring to accommodate a visitor center and military museum. In time, Stalnaker says, there will be heat, air conditioning and functioning restrooms.

Altogether, the work so far is barely a dent in what needs to be done, Stalnaker acknowledges, “but whatever we do is better than nothing. We can’t just sit here and let it fall apart.”

Yet keeping up with the demands of one of the largest hand-cut stone structures in the world can be daunting.

The main building, stretching more than a quarter-mile across the front, was hewn from blue sandstone quarried nearby and has walls 2.5 feet thick. Its heating pipes, if laid end to end, would cover 15 miles. The building also has 921 windows, 906 doors, four 150-foot-high cupolas, and a 200-foot clock tower.

Originally named The Lunatic Asylum West of the Alleghenies, the hospital was created by Virginia lawmakers in 1858. While the first structure was designed to house 250 patients, the hospital eventually held as many as 2,200, plus a live-in staff of 650.

The first patients arrived in 1864. The last left in May 1994, when they were moved to the nearby William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital.

Six years later, then-Gov. Cecil Underwood created the Weston Hospital Task Force, which today supports the work of the local Revitalization Committee by overseeing the administration of state and federal preservation grants.

While the volunteer Revitalization Committee has raised tens of thousands for renovations, the task force has $1.5 million to work with–half from the state and half from the U.S. Department of Interior through its Save America’s Treasures program.

So far, the task force is spending more than $200,000 on a feasibility study that will recommend possible uses for the property and a preservation report that will help the group decide how best to protect the property until it can be redeveloped.

Over the years, several developers have floated ideas for the building and grounds. Two Tennessee builders had hoped to turn the complex into a 300-room hotel and convention center, complete with golf course, shopping, condominiums and office space.

But they couldn’t raise the $88 million needed for renovations.

The costs of overhauling and maintaining the property are as immense as the hospital itself, says Stalnaker: It costs the state $50,000 a year just to mow the grass.

Last March, the task force sent requests for proposals to groups that had previously expressed interest, but the deadline passed with no takers. A second campaign in the fall was equally futile.

Still, Lewis County Commissioner Bob Conley remains optimistic.

“You must never lose hope,” he says. “It was here long before we were here. … It has to have some impact on the future of the county, and it’s up to us to see that it happens.”

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CRAZEE MAZE

Weston’s premiere Halloween event. Craze Maze, a one-half acre maze in the shadow of the former Trans-Allegheny Asylum for the Insane, is designed to thrill, excite, and spook. Will the things you see be real or only in your mind’s eye? Are they of the past or present? The answer lies with you! The maze will open 5:30 p.m., October 11, 2003 and remain open until 10:30 p.m. or whenever folks quit coming that evening.

Thereafter, the maze will open at 6:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through November 1. The maze will close at midnight or whenever the guest goes home. . .

We hope to see you there October 17 or 18
October 24 or 25
October 31 or November 1

Lantern tours will also be given of the hospital during those same times.

Admission for the maze:
Children 6 and under – free
Student 12 and under – $3.50
All others – $5.00

Lantern Tours:
Children 6 and under – free
Students 18 and under – $3.50
All others – $5.00

Weston
September 18, 2003
The Trans-Allegheny Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee participated in a nationwide celebration of Constitution Day, September 17, with a special ceremony at
the entrance to the Weston Hospital grounds.

This celebration marked the 216th anniversary of the final writing of the
United States Constitution.  Delaware was the first state to ratify the
Constitution on December 7, 1787; Virginia, from which West Virginia was formed, ratified it on June 25, 1787; and, West Virginia concurred with our own ratification on the date our state was formed, June 23, 1863.

Program for the local event included the singing of the National Anthem by Lewis County High School senior, Tara Wine; the reading of the Preamble to the Constitution in unison by the assembled audience; and the dedication of an American Flag and West Virginia Flag donated by Lewis County’s state legislators, Delegate Doug Stalnaker and Senator William R. Sharpe.

The twenty-five or so attendees, including several public officials, were
attired in red, white, and blue.

Rededication of the flag poles and the first flight of the flags was
originally scheduled for August 15; however, the poles required more repair than originally thought and the work was completed with the help of the Weston City Street Department under the direction of supervisor Stan Lewis just in time for this week’s celebration.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Weston
July 7, 2003

The Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee and the Weston Hospital Task Force recently announced the acquisition of a lease on a small portion of  the former hospital grounds. The lease was granted by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, and signed by department secretary Paul Nusbaum.

The lease will allow the two organizations use of 2700 square feet of space in the central tower area of the hospital building. “This is a small step for Lewis County, but a great leap for the hospital,” said Joy Stalnaker, local project manager for the hospital task force and chairman of the revitalization committee.

According to Stalnaker, the Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee plans to use the leased property for the establishment of a visitor center, a mental health museum, a Civil War study center, and an arts and theater area.

The acquisition of this lease is a part of the revitalization and 
restoration project that has been in the works for some time. Work is 
being done to restore the Weston Hospital to its appearance as it was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Area volunteers are providing much of the labor.

“To date, Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee volunteers have 
replaced windows and scraped paint. The tower clock and fountain have also been restored,” stated Stalnaker. She added that water would be returned to the building in the near future.

Additional improvements such as replacement of heating and air 
conditioning, the creation of public restroom facilities are also part of 
the revitalization program.

Committee volunteers have been guiding tours through the facility 
during summer weekends. Tours will be continued while the restoration work is taking place.

Funding for the restoration and revitalization of the facility has been provided the grants from “Save America’s Treasures,” a program of the National Park Service. The committee augments the grant money with tour fees and gift shop sales, as well as donations.

“With volunteer labor, we will be able to make our grant dollars go father,” said Stalnaker.

Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee volunteers are a diverse 
group; members are skilled in a variety o fields. The include contractors, public speakers, writers, secretaries, and countless others.

“We have a good cross-section of skills,” said Stalnaker of the 
organization.

Those who are interested in contributing to the revitalization of 
the Weston hospital should contact Stalnaker at (304) 269-7091.

Joy Stalnaker
45 Abbotts Run Road
Horner, WV 26372

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Weston – The Weston Hospital Task Force this week released new criteria for the submission of proposals for adaptive reuse of all or a part of the former mental hospital situated on forty acres near downtown Weston, Lewis County, West Virginia.  Purportedly the largest hand-cut stone building in North America, the mammoth structure has been vacant since 1995 when patients were transferred to the new William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital.

The criteria require potential developers to submit the nature of their potential reuse, development costs and marketing facts, job creation, and financial strategy.

Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated for integrity, feasibility, and impact on the community using a point system for rating.  Oral presentations of the most promising concepts will be scheduled in January 2004.

Initial deadline for submission of proposals is June 30, 2003, with all requested information required by September 30, 2003.

While the state-owned facility is managed by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, development efforts are the responsibility of the Weston Hospital Task Force.

The Task Force was formed by executive order in October 2000 to manage a $750,000 Save America’s Treasures grant from the National Park Service and its equal match from the Legislative Budget Digest and to seek a successful adaptive reuse of the buildings and campus.  Task Force members include representatives of DHHR, the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, West Virginia Division of Tourism, the West Virginia Economic Development Office, and four persons from Lewis County.

The Civil War era Weston Hospital was designed by Baltimore architect R. Snowden Andrews.  Constructed of native blue sandstone, the building is comprised of two double-sectioned wings joined by a central structure.  It is graced by a central clock tower reaching 200 feet above the tree-lined park surrounding the building.  There are  several ancillary buildings. 

With more than nine acres under one roof, the hospital building stretches 1295 feet, has 921 windows and 906 doors.  The solid sandstone walls are two and one-half feet thick and backed throughout by brick.  A full basement, with dirt floor, runs the entire length of the structure and the interior floors are reinforced concrete. 

Developers interested in obtaining the criteria should contact the Weston Hospital Task Force, 45 Abbotts Run Road, Horner, WV 26372, the West Virginia Development Office, or download from this site.  Click Here for the Adaptive Reuse Proposal Criteria.   The last concerted effort to find suitable tenants for this National Landmark was in 1995-96.  At that time, a Tennessee developer was given an exclusive license for nine months to conduct studies and seek financial backing.  Their efforts were unsuccessful.

The Great Weston Gold Robbery:

Weston Hospital is showcased each June with Weston Gold Dollar
Days.  This event marks the first occupation of the hospital grounds by troops from either side during the War Between the States when the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry under Erastus B. Tyler arrived in Weston to “liberate” $27,000 in gold specie held in the Exchange Bank of Virginia to pay hospital construction workers.  The money helped in the creation of the new state of West Virginia in 1863; after the war, West Virginia repaid the money to Virginia.

The Weston Gold Dollar Days will be held June 27-29, 2003.  For more information on the Great Weston Gold Robbery event, please Click Here.

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WANTED:

The Weston Hospital Revitalization Committee is seeking a bed, other furniture, or items that were used in Weston Hospital when it was open. We hope to set up a patient’s room similar to what it was at some time in the past. Also, we are looking for pictures of activities or areas of the hospital.