Bluefield eyes long list of municipal projects
bluefield — Building a border monument where West Virginia and Virginia meet, bringing an outdoor stage and more green space to downtown Bluefield, and making travel easier and safer are among the many projects lined up for the city of Bluefield.
The Bluefield Board of Directors recently outlined projects that are underway and others that are being considered. One project, the demolition of the vacant Ferri Building on Bland Street has been approved by the board, said City Manager Cecil Marson. This project is being funded by a $296,000 federal Community Development Block grant with an $85,000 city match. Demolishing this structure will create more parking near the new city center park and turn the adjacent alley into a thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists.
The new downtown park will be built in a space created when the downtown's 400 block buildings were demolished. A green space, an outdoor stage and a venue for food trucks and festivals are part of the plan.
Projects on the city's lists are not confined to the downtown. In February 2024, the city was awarded a $25,547,532 federal grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Safe Streets and Roads for All program. That project involves the creation of four roundabouts in the city, creating pedestrian and bicycle accommodations through a strategic mountain gap, and making safety improvements which include implementing traffic-calming strategies and installing sidewalks, crosswalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons and street lighting on selected corridors.
More projects include improvements in Lotito Park featuring a splash pad, repaving parking lots and other enhancements. Housing in the Tree Street and Cypress Street areas along with Bluefield Arts Revitalization Corps (BARC) efforts to revitalize the historic Traveler's Hotel and Hotel Thelma are among other projects as well.
Marson said there is a reason for so much ongoing activity.
'I think you have a board and employees here at the city that are steadfast on making our area what we want it to be and it's going to take a lot of hard work and that's what we're committed to,' Marson said about all the projects underway and being studied. 'I know in some cases we could probably do better, but we are doing everything humanly possible to get us to where we need to go; and so we're kind of in the middle of a big time here.'
The city is looking at how to implement and fund the long list of projects.
'We're wracking our brains on what is the best path forward and what we can do,' Marson said.
Downtown businesses and BARC have done a good job with projects such as renovating and reopening the Granada Theater, he said. The city center project for the 400 block is a foundational part of finding ways to use the downtown's other buildings. The park would help bring more visitors to the downtown and encourage more people to live there.
'There's potentially an argument out there that they don't need any more parks. Well, what I would say is we have to have a reason. Folks want business, right? and a business person wants to know what has the investment been before I spend my money on an infrastructure bringing a business in here,' Marson said. 'It's a chicken or egg discussion, but it's a team game, right? We're putting in this investment to clean up the storefronts, clean up the center of the city with all the great businesses we've got operating down there.'
Investing in the downtown's buildings would help attract developers and bring in more businesses, he said. Then the city can see how it can help these entrepreneurs open their doors.
'How do we help you get this building up and get your business up and rocking?,' Marson said.
Creating a parking lot at the Ferri Building site would add to making the downtown more attractive for new businesses.
'We're trying to set the table as advantageous as we can to attract that business,' he said. 'All of your customers are going to park right here and they're going to park 50 feet right into your storefront.'
Revamping other vacant downtown buildings will be challenging.
'They have gotten in such disrepair, it's economically difficult to revamp those buildings without a lot of outside grant funding,' Marson said. 'There are very few business owners can come and spend $2 million or $3 million on a building. We want a storefront, a bakery, we want a women's clothing shop, a men's shop, a butcher shop. Well, all those businesses, it takes a while to get your return on investment. The buildings we have need to be upgraded and fixed to entice that kind of business. Basically give them shovel ready, store ready places. That's what we're working on right now. We're going to work with a developer and work with our team here to get those buildings upgraded and clean; but we have again we have infrastructure in the town that was built for 30,000 people. We're currently sitting right around 10,000.'
The city's long-term goal is to boost its population back up to 30,000 residents.
'It's going to take time, but with this massive infrastructure vacant for 20, 30 years, unfortunately it got into some tough shape and we cannot fix them all,' Marson said. 'We don't have the money to fix them all, so we have to make some hard decisions for the greater good, for the long term.'
All the projects Bluefield is undertaking will become part of its Comprehensive Plan, Marson said. The city has gotten public feedback for town hall meetings, and many projects came from those discussions, Marson said. In the near future there will be another town hall meeting to collect more feedback, then the Bluefield Planning Commission will vote on the overall Comprehensive Plan and make recommendations to the Board of Directors which will then vote on whether to ratify it.
'Hopefully we get to a world where the downtown's humming and developers are coming in and they're building all over the place because it's a destination of choice and folks are coming here,' Marson said. 'Hopefully for our Christmas in the future, we'll have the downtown decorated and we'll have a nice park feeding off into our businesses and we've got folks lined up all over the place, traffic jams of folks coming into the city to enjoy Christmas and shop and use all our restaurants and all our businesses, the Granada and Raleigh Street Cinemas.'
Contact Greg Jordan at
gjordan@bdtonline.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
3 days ago
- USA Today
Ernesto Morales Calls for Stronger Community Engagement Strategies in Public-Private Projects
Los Angeles Executive Says Listening First Is the Key to Lasting Impact Ernesto Morales, CEO of North Star Alliances and longtime advocate for community-centered strategy, is calling on public agencies, corporations, and nonprofit leaders to deepen their commitment to authentic engagement practices. The call to action comes on the heels of Morales's recent feature in a career spotlight article titled 'Ernesto Morales: Building Big Ideas That Bring People Together.' Drawing from more than two decades of experience across public outreach, corporate relations, and strategy, Morales is using his platform to raise awareness about how misaligned partnerships can miss the mark-and how better listening could change that. 'Big ideas only matter if they solve big problems,' Morales says. 'Engagement isn't a checkbox. It's a responsibility.' Why This Matters: Trust, Equity, and Outcomes Across the U.S., over $1.2 trillion in federal infrastructure and economic development funding is flowing into local projects through programs like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Yet many efforts struggle to earn local buy-in, often because they lack culturally relevant communication and input. A 2023 Urban Institute report found that fewer than 35% of residents in high-impact areas felt meaningfully included in planning decisions that affect them. That's where Morales sees an opportunity. 'We need to stop designing solutions in silos,' he explains. 'Communities already have the answers. The job is to make room for them at the table.' From Theory to Practice: North Star's Model Through North Star Alliances, Morales has helped execute over 1,100 projects with clients such as Google, The White House, Coca-Cola, LA Metro, LAUSD, and L.A. Care. The common thread across all of them? Building trust before offering solutions. At Rose Hills Memorial Park, he led culturally specific outreach to Hispanic families around end-of-life services. At Pepperdine University, he helped raise $14 million by aligning university programs with industry needs. And today, he serves as a California State Commissioner on the Employment Training Panel, where he helps guide investment in workforce development. 'It's not just about launching programs,' says Morales. 'It's about listening, learning, and earning the right to lead.' What You Can Do Morales believes that anyone – regardless of profession – can help create more connected, community-focused outcomes. His call to action: Start by listening. Ask your community what they need. Don't assume. Engage early and often. Don't wait until decisions are made to bring people in. Invest in relationships, not just deliverables. 'The most powerful thing we can do is slow down and listen,' Morales emphasizes. 'That's where every lasting solution begins.' To read more, visit the website here . About Ernesto Morales Ernesto Morales is the CEO and founder of North Star Alliances, a Los Angeles-based firm specializing in public engagement, outreach strategy, and strategic partnerships. His career spans roles in healthcare, education, and nonprofit leadership, including at Children's Hospital LA, Pepperdine University, and the Latin Business Association. Morales holds an MBA and a Bachelor's in Business Management from Pepperdine University. Contact: info@ SOURCE: Ernesto Morales View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Barclays to Ban Credit-Card Crypto Purchases Starting Friday
Barclays (BARC), one of the U.K.'s largest banks, said it will stop customers using their credit cards to purchase cryptocurrency by the end of the week. The London-based company will block cryptocurrency transactions on its Barclaycard-branded payment cards starting June 27, it said on a website page published Wednesday. The page cited "certain risks" when purchasing crypto. "We're doing this because a fall in the price of crypto assets could lead to customers finding themselves in debt they can't afford to repay," the page reads. "There's also no protection for crypto assets if something goes wrong with a purchase, as they're not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service and Financial Services Compensation Scheme." The FSCS reimburses up to 85,000 pounds ($116,000) to customers who lose money if an institution covered by the program fails. While banks preventing customers using their credit cards to purchase crypto is nothing new, it is unclear why Barclays has put this restriction in place now. Rival institutions Nationwide and HSBC did something similar back in March 2023 at a time when wounds from the collapse of multiple crypto firms in 2022 were still fresh. The bank did not provide further comment on this matter when contacted by CoinDesk. CORRECT (June 25, 16:37 UTC): Correct acronym for Financial Services Compensation Scheme in fourth paragraph. Sign in to access your portfolio
5 days ago
Federal judge orders Trump administration to release EV charger funding in 14 states
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A federal judge Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in funding for the build out of electric vehicle chargers in more than a dozen states. U.S. District Judge Tana Lin in Washington state partially granted a preliminary injunction that sought to free up the money approved under then-President Joe Biden that the Trump administration withheld earlier this year. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia sued over the move, arguing that the administration did not have the authority to block the congressionally approved funds. The program was set to allocate $5 billion over five years to various states, of which an estimated $3.3 billion had already been made available. Lin ordered that funding be released in 14 of the states, including in Arizona, California and New York. But she denied granting the preliminary injunction for D.C., Minnesota and Vermont, saying that they did not provide enough evidence that they would face 'irreparable harm' if the money wasn't immediately freed up. Lin said the Trump administration overstepped its constitutional authority when it froze the funding previously approved by Congress in 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 'When the Executive Branch treads upon the will of the Legislative Branch, and when an administrative agency acts contrary to law, it is the Court's responsibility to remediate the situation and restore the balance of power,' she wrote. The order will go into effect July 2 unless the Trump administration appeals. The Federal Highway Administration did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on the decision. The Trump administration in February directed states to stop spending money for electric vehicle charging under the program. The move was part of a broader push by the Republican president to roll back environmental policies advanced by his Democratic predecessor. States suing the Trump administration said the decision to freeze funding halted projects midstream, requiring immediate court intervention. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said after the ruling that the Trump administration could not 'dismiss programs illegally.' 'We are pleased with today's order blocking the Administration's unconstitutional attempt to do so, and California looks forward to continuing to vigorously defend itself from this executive branch overreach,' he said in a statement. The Trump administration argued that it was working on new guidance for the program and was only pausing future funding in the meantime. The program was meant to assuage concerns about electric vehicles and build infrastructure along highway corridors first, then address gaps elsewhere once the state highway obligations were met. Some states with projects running under the program have already been reimbursed by the Biden-era federal funds. Others are still contracting for their sites. Still more had halted their plans by the time the Trump administration ordered states to stop their spending. Regardless, getting the chargers installed and operating has been a slow process with contracting challenges, permitting delays and complex electrical upgrades. It was expected that states would fight against the federal government's efforts to slow the nation's electric vehicle charger build out. New York, for example, which is part of the lawsuit, has been awarded over $175 million in federal funds from the program, and state officials say $120 million is currently being withheld by the Trump administration.
