PRATT, W.Va. –Pratt Mayor Andy Williams asked the Kanawha County Board of Education at their meeting Monday night to donate the property that sits across Pratt Elementary School to the city in order for them to carry out their plans.
Williams says that they want to be able to be a part of the trail system that the Charleston Area Alliance is putting in throughout the Upper Kanawha Valley.
“This piece of property would give us a big jump ahead,” Williams said. “We could do different things with it, tennis courts, an amphitheater, stage area, we could put on festivals and have gatherings, have bands.”
The board recently had the old Pratt Elementary School building, which was previously the Pratt Junior High gym, and isn’t being used for anything at the moment. And Tom Williams, the school’s superintendent said that the board didn’t have any plans for the property.
After Williams was done presenting, he turned it over to Susie Salisbury, Vice President of Community Development for the Charleston Area Alliance, whom he says has been instrumental in helping the city plan what they wanted to do with the property.
Salisbury says that she is working on the Upper Kanawha Valley Trail System and says the spot where the property is will make great trail head for one of their systems if the board decides to give the city the property.
“This happens to be right at the perfect spot for a trail head, we have some plans up along the rim across some of the coal property up there, we have another trail system, and it would head right down into Pratt, Pratt would become the trail head for that system,” she said.
Some of these trails that they are planning on putting their include trails for hiking, biking, equestrian, water trails and could develop a park system.
Salisbury also said that while they were making the master plan for the property, she also took into consideration that the elementary school used the buildings that were on the lot previously as a place for physical education and a place to go when the weather was bad.
“So, we’re looking at putting another building there that the schools could access in bad weather, an amphitheater where the school could use for demonstrations,” she said. “So, this whole concept, while we’re focusing on the tourism industry, this particular piece is really more focused on the community.”
After the presentation of the plan, board President Ric Cavender, said the plans that they were given look good.
“Sounds great, it’s good to see these types of presentations, sometimes folks come and it’s a concept, but there’s actually funded plan here which is great,” he said.
The board will vote at their next board meeting which is scheduled for March 20.
Photo from Pratt Elementary School (Facebook)