RONCEVERTE W.Va. (WVDN) – With the future of the American Heritage Music Hall (AHMH) still very much in question, Mother Nature forced a temporary truce between the city of Ronceverte and the Hall’s board members. In 2023, the AHMH building was signed over to the city of Ronceverte under a charitable gift agreement. Board members of the AHMH dispute the validity of the donation saying that they were not made aware of the transfer before it was made.
With the building having been locked and its ownership yet to be determined in court, some items still belonging to AHMH were left inside amid the dispute. “There’s still approximately $30,000 to $40,000 worth of equipment and things still inside,” says Kay Shafer, event coordinator for AHMH. “The music equipment belongs to some of the guys that come down and play music with the rest belonging to the American Heritage Music Hall,” she adds.
With flooding predicted for Eastern Greenbrier County over the weekend, the city of Ronceverte allowed board members and volunteers in to secure their belongings as best they could to protect them from potential flood waters. “We were contacted on February 13 and given one day’s notice to either get our stuff out or up starting at 10:30 a.m. on February 14. There’s no way we could get everything out in that timeframe, so we moved it up with the help of volunteers.”
After several hours of work, volunteers were able to get equipment raised onto tables and then onto the stage in an effort to prevent damage from potential flood waters. “Luckily, the water didn’t get up that high over the weekend,” says Shafer. With the unpredictable nature of water and more snow on the way, the equipment is seemingly safe for now. “We would like to thank everyone that came to help move things up in the music hall,” Shafer said. “It was good to be inside the American Heritage Music Hall again.”
An attempt was made to reach City of Ronceverte officials for comment, but they were unreachable by phone as of the publishing deadline.
