NITRO, W.Va. — The old Nitro High School building will not be standing much longer.
The building on 19th Street, which saw its last graduating class in 1991, has been a space for churches and community centers since Nitro High moved to Park Avenue. Reports say the building is full of asbestos, has little plumbing remaining, and a leaky roof.
Last week, the Nitro Land Reuse Agency won the auction for the property with a bid of $166,000. They plan to demolish the old school and repurpose the property.
Mayor Dave Casebolt says that while it’s sad, the building can’t keep rotting away in the town.
“We’ve got an old school sitting right in the middle of our town. It’s basically just a dinosaur laying there and it has no functional use,” Casebolt said after a Tuesday city council meeting. “The LRA’s plan is to tear the facility down, hopefully have it down within a year to two years, and then repurpose the property.”
Casebolt, who walked the halls of the old high school himself, says he knows what the facility means to so many in the town, including him and his graduating class.
“I know that school holds a lot of sentimental value to a lot of people, including me,” Casebolt said.
“We’ve got our 50-year reunion coming up next year and it kind of brings it all home, the sentimental value of that school,” Casebolt said. “I attended school there for three years, met a lot of new friends, did a lot of school activities, and it was just some of the best years of my life. It’s going to be hard to see that school gone.”
Nitro officials have said that the city will be offering free bricks from the school in the future to any alumni or residents that want one. Other memorabilia from the school will be given away down the road.
Casebolt says there’s not word yet on what will come of the property in the coming years, but the city is not going to waste time in getting plans in motion.
“We have no idea yet what the property will be used for,” Casebolt said. “We will start in the upcoming LRA meeting to try to determine what the best use for that property is.”