CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Charleston Urban Renewal Authority is working on a number of projects including one to demolish dozens of vacant homes mainly on the city’s West Side.
The City of Charleston, CURA and homeowners have knocked down about 68 vacant homes.
“There’s a report that shows the amount of houses that were demolished by owners. It lists the houses that were demolished using CURA funds which was about 24. There was a lion’s share on the West Side, there were a couple downtown and a couple on the East End,” said CURA Executive Director Ron Butlin.
The CURA Board met Wednesday to discuss other projects like the West Side Community Renewal Plan. Butlin said they have hired a contractor, ZMM Architects, for a base bid of $45,000. He said they want to re look at the 10-year-old plan.
“Ten years is a long time, so we need to look at is the area involved accurate? What’s been happening? Is there a focus that could be different or new? Anything to make that plan relevant going forward,” Butlin said.
In downtown Charleston, owners of the Chase Tower are interested in trying to figure out a way to activate Chase Plaza on Capitol Street between Virginia Street and the Kanawha Boulevard.
“They don’t have a plan yet. They’re just discussing it would be great to activate it and what could we all do together,” Butlin said.
No update was provided in regards to ongoing negotiations with the Charleston Town Center Mall and its parking garage. The mall is currently being controlled by a receiver. The parking structures are a separate entity.
“We are right in the midst of some fairly active legal negotiations on how to deal with the parking garages,” Butlin said.