ALDERSON W.Va. (WVDN) – As you drive through the picturesque town of Alderson, it appears to be straight out of a movie with the old-time charm of its quaint historic district.
For Sarah and Joe Alderson, the town was in danger of becoming something else entirely recently as it lost a piece of its history.
Sarah and her brother, Joe, have roots that run deep in the town. Their fifth great-grandfather founded the town that lies on the banks of the Greenbrier River. Their family has run Alderson’s Store for generations, and Sarah continues the tradition. It’s been a staple in the community since 1887. Sarah and Joe had made what they thought were arrangements to purchase another historic building in the town that was connected to their store’s history. Unlike a fairy tale, this story has no happy ending.
According to Sarah Alderson, the property she and her brother had reportedly made arrangements to acquire was located at 303 Monroe Street S. It was listed as a contributing factor to the Alderson historic district and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It was sold to the town of Alderson in 2010 and assessed in 2024 for $47,700. It was the oldest commercial building in Alderson that was still standing. According to Sarah, the town is supposed to have an active Historic Landmarks Commission that protects the buildings, but others trying to help save the building allegedly couldn’t find any record of it. According to the Aldersons, it seems one may have been created, but has been defunct for some time.
Sarah said the building was still structurally sound and a viable business location. There was some asbestos they were reportedly told by consultants could be easily abated. She and her brother had it inspected by a local historian and a historic architect, both reportedly assured them of this. Alderson and her brother intended for it to provide another business for the small town. However, Sarah claims that she and her brother were told by the town council that they didn’t want or need any more businesses.
Sarah went on to say that the building the town recently demolished at 303 Monroe Street S. was sitting on the site of the original Alderson’s Store building that burned to the ground in 1930. The little building in question was also owned by her great-grandfather at that time, and he had had it moved from the site of their current store to where it last stood to have their current art deco building constructed, which was completed in 1932 at 320 Monroe Street S.
Sarah’s brother, Joe, said he had the resources to purchase and renovate the little historic building to reflect the pictures he had drawn up by an architectural engineer to represent how the building could have looked. The architectural renderings represent the vision that Joe said he had explained in numerous meetings and by email to the mayor and all council members for town beautification and economic development.
Initially, the town allegedly said that the building had to be moved. According to the Aldersons. the town first agreed that if Joe had the building moved to a new location, they would give him the building. The Aldersons stated that it was found that the building was sound enough to be moved, although the cost would be substantial.
A statement released by the Town of Alderson says, “The option was given to them to purchase the building and move it to their property. Mr Alderson was unable to find a location or come up with a plan to move it. Further, in an open public meeting, Copenhaver gave Mr. Alderson the opportunity to chair a committee to seek funds and restore the building on behalf of the municipality. Mr. Alderson was emphatically opposed to this offer.”
Joe felt strongly that it needed to be placed in the Historic Business District. The problem was that the best open locations for the building along Railroad Avenue in Alderson were not for sale. After presenting this information to the town during a council meeting, Copenhaver reportedly told Joe that it did not need to be moved. With that information, Joe sent a proposal to the council to purchase the building for a reasonable price. It was reportedly determined that the best way to sell the building to Joe was to wait until the town’s “Home Rule” application with the state had been approved and taken effect. Copenhaver allegedly told the council that Joe could then make an offer, and that he and Joe could then negotiate the actual price.
The home rule application for Alderson was approved in the fall of 2021. From the information that Joe received, he believed that it would not take effect until July 1, 2022. Meanwhile, in April or May 2021, winds blew part of the north-facing roof off the building. It then posed a safety hazard to pedestrians in the area. The Aldersons report that Copenhaver called Joe to demand that he do something about the roof. Because of asbestos in the paint last used on the roof, it needed someone licensed to remove asbestos to take off the remaining roofing that had not fallen off the building. Joe paid for this to be done as soon as it could be arranged, and a tarp was temporarily placed over the roof until a permanent metal roof could be sourced.
Joe said he found a roofer to do the work and ordered the roofing. This was during the COVID-19 pandemic when there were many long delays in the production of materials, including metal roofing.
Unfortunately, it took over three months before the roofing material could be delivered. During this time, it became increasingly questionable whether the town would sell the building to Joe, and Joe did not want to invest more money into the building until it was legally his. At this point, Joe’s total personal investment was approximately $4,000.
According to a statement released by Copenhaver, four years ago, he “asked Region Four Planning and Development Council to find funds to demolish this structure and another one the municipality owns that is in ruins as well. A Housing and Urban Development grant was obtained.
“Joeseph and Sarah Alderson expressed an interest in saving the building after finding out that demolition was the plan after the municipality had exhausted its resources to save the building.”
In the summer of 2022, Joe made an offer during a town council meeting. At this point, Copenhaver told Joe that he absolutely would not negotiate for it. Yet the mayor had reportedly not proposed an actual purchase valuation for the building and land, although he had stated numerous times that being a home rule town, town property could be sold for up to $15,000 without having to go out for bid, so the assumption was that the sale price would be $15,000 or less.
Joe and Sarah still feel that more business spaces are needed on the Monroe side, and an historic building would have been ideal. Sarah says she also hears that regularly from other businesses, residents and visitors. However, they claim the mayor, council and main advisor to the town still tell them no one is looking for business and no more business spaces are needed.
Joe said he was looking forward to opening a furniture store to complement what Alderson’s Store already sells, as well as other businesses. He hoped it could be a start of expanding the business district to provide multiple shops because others might follow. Another option he had considered was a frame shop since he has taught picture framing in Morgantown for over 35 years. However, he was definitely willing to make the business location available to anyone with a viable business plan. Various people in town have talked of businesses that they would like to see. Sadly, the building was razed to reportedly provide up to five parking spaces. That is the maximum number of spaces that could be put in the footprint of the building Joe said. He thinks this has been a shameful waste of the town’s money, time, resources, history and future business opportunities.
Sarah stated the mayor continued to claim in public meetings that her brother would never do anything with the building. She wants people to know they couldn’t because they didn’t own it, and the town wouldn’t sell it. She feels like people falsely think it was already given or sold to them and that they drug their feet in getting something done. She says they kept trying and kept getting told no. They simply couldn’t do anything with a building they didn’t own.
Sarah and her brother were attempting to get an injunction to stop the recent demolition of the building because they found out it didn’t have state approval. Sarah feels like this is what caused the town to step up the demolition to a Sunday. She said as far as she can tell, they did not make a public announcement of demolition ahead of time so that residents could weigh in on the matter. They didn’t put a demolition notice on the door and allegedly did not get permission from the State Historic Preservation Office, which is required in a historic district.
However, a statement from the town says, “The State Historic Preservation Office was one of the agencies to sign off on the permitting process for this and every one of the structures we have torn down. We understand the hopes and dreams to save every historic structure and don’t like to see any building in our town empty or in neglected states.”
It goes on to say, “The entire process of demolition for these two structures on the HUD grant was handled by our partners at Region Four. All notices and processes have been followed according to the law.”
She said the town government always claimed the building was “riddled with asbestos,” and the roof definitely had some asbestos, but yet the demolition crew seems to have only worked inside for a couple of days, and the remaining roof did not look to have been removed as the bulldozer hit it. She explained that no one doing the final demolition or in the vicinity of all the dust going up and settling around the area was wearing any type of mask or hazmat suit. It was all open to the public as was the rubble afterward.
The town’s statement on the matter says, “This has not been any hasty or rebellious act as it has been construed to the media. The town council and mayor have made overwhelming efforts to save the structure. Funding is the major issue and contrary to statements in the media and on social media individuals cannot easily obtain the grant funds and credits necessary in the amount needed to save this structure or it would have probably happened.”
Sarah was reportedly approached by some townspeople who alleged that immediately afterward, the mayor put flowers and balloons at the site that said: “Let’s Celebrate.” People came asking her what that was all about.
She says that was simply “more evidence that it was all a spiteful act.” She added that the town government didn’t hurt her family which “seemed to be the intent, although they do prefer to demolish rather than save or build.” Instead, she feels they hurt all the other businesses in town that need backup and more attractions, the residents who need more choices and the town government itself by losing money not only with the lack of a sale but also with the effect it will have on getting future grants, the loss of town history that people come to see and the lack of ongoing sales tax income that would have benefited everyone. To Sarah and Joe Alderson, what was done to the town of Alderson itself, its history and its potential, is the saddest part of all.
