MONTGOMERY, W.Va. — Residents will hear more about a plan to repurpose a significant portion of the West Virginia University Tech campus in Montgomery during a Wednesday meeting.
KVC Health Systems has a public meeting set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the WVU Tech Engineering Auditorium.
Representatives will discuss the project to transform the space into a specialized college for youth in foster care.
“We know this is somewhat unique and if you don’t work in and around child welfare, it can mean different things, so we want to be very clear and out there with our great partners (WVU, BridgeValley Technical College and the YMCA) and talk about what that campus is really going to look like,” said Tom Bailey, a lobbyist representing KVC Health Systems.
The Kansas-based non-profit organization reached an agreement last week with WVU regarding a lease-purchase of the Tech campus in Montgomery.
The facility would provide foster children with the opportunity to learn new skills during their transition to adulthood, Bailey said.
KVC would work with the state Department of Health and Human Resources to “start working with foster youth at about age 16, while they’re still in a foster care home environment,” Bailey said, which would “help them make the transition and make the choice to go to college.”
Bailey said KVC was originally interested in buying the Sugar Grove naval base in Pendleton County, but the property was sold last December.
“We took a hard look once we realized Sugar Grove wasn’t meant to be for us and made some adjustments to our plan and to strengthen this,” he said. “While it’s the same concept, it is wildly different because of the area.”
WVU Tech is still in the process of moving classes from Montgomery to Beckley. The move is scheduled to be complete by this fall.