FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Less than a year after the Father’s Day torrential rains and flooding in Fairmont, the city has entered into a partnership with Fairmont State University and First Exchange Bank to demolish and redevelop three Locust Avenue properties.
On Father’s Day 2025, the Fairmont area received more than three inches of rain between 2 and 3:30 p.m. that caused serious damage to 1114, 1116, and 1120 Locust Avenue.
Fairmont City Manager Travis Blosser said the owners of the properties allowed them to remain in deplorable condition, contributing to their fragile state that weekend. The torrential rains were too much for the storm drainage system and overwhelmed the structures that were in disrepair.
“We had one structure that sustained what we would view as a catastrophic collapse of a sidewall and a couple of other structures that sustained damage,” Blosser said Thursday on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.”
Immediately, the city had to work with the Tygart Valley United Way to place the resident and begin to sort out the options to address the damage. The location solidified the partnership between the city and Fairmont State University, who both sought to seize the opportunity to begin considering redevelopment.
“A financial institution that had debt associated with it, a company that was acquiring the property on a land contract, and then you also had an existing property owner who still maintained control of the property,” Blosser said. “So, there were a lot components and complexities here.”
The First Exchange Bank held a note on the property and took a seat at the table to find a way forward. The cooperation from the bank was the key in quickly getting the project off the ground.
“There was indebtedness tied to the property, and they certainly are taking some loss associated with that,” Blosser said. “But they were a strong community partner, and CEO Clayton Rice sat down with us to really hone in on a path forward.”
Fairmont State University will take control of the property once demolition is complete and then begin to look for the private partner to do the redevelopment. Blosser said the end product will be a new gateway to the university that will include commercial, retail, and residential options.
“A public-private partnership with a developer to look at redevelopment of the site,” Blosser said. “In particular, not just this property that they’re getting, but the additional property they own just down the street.”
Blosser said during the demolition they’ll continue to partner with the state Department of Highways to remedy the drainage issues below the surface that resulted in the catastrophic failure of the structure. The redevelopment will repurpose and update the property for decades of use in the future.
“The work we’re continuing to do with the university and our partners at the state Department of Highways is to deal with the stormwater issues in that section of Locust Avenue that have existed for decades.”