Flood Rebuild & Recover

By: Alexander Thomas | Posted: Feb. 12, 2018 | Source: WCHS News Network

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A temporary library in Clendenin could open by late May, according to Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper, providing town residents with its first standing library since the June 2016 flood destroyed their permanent facility.

The plan is to transform the first floor of the Clendenin Middle School building into a usable library area. The Kanawha County Public Library Board of Directors will pay $1,500 in rent per month to use the 3,000-square-foot space.

“We’re finally getting a stalled project moving, and it was pretty much stalled,” Carper said.

Carper spoke at the commission’s meeting last week about a conceptual design to use the middle school building as the location of a new library. He added the commission could seek a large grant for design and construction work.

“That needs consensus,” he said. “I think it we’ll have consensus or we won’t do it. We won’t force them to do it.”

The library board will meet Monday at 4 p.m. at the downtown Charleston library.