CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Interior demolition is underway on the West Virginia Parkways Authority’s new headquarters.
The authority, which oversees the 88-mile West Virginia Turnpike, purchased the former Charleston Moose Lodge in December 2025 for $700,000. In May, the authority contracted ZMM Architects and Engineers to help design the new facility.
Authority executive director Chuck Smith told MetroNews that interior demolition was approved by the board last week. He said that all of the drywall, electrical, and plumbing systems that were inefficient and in poor condition will be taken out.
“The contractor will remove basically anything that’s not structural inside that facility,” Smith said. “What we’ll have at the end is basically just a concrete, steel, and masonry shell to work from.”
That demolition was in addition to the purchase costs, but Smith said it is in the $8-to-$10 million estimated budget.
“That’s where we’re at for the whole project, that’s what we’re shooting for, and that’s the goal,” Smith said. “Hit those numbers.”
The process of developing what the inside of the building will look like is underway, he said.
“Design packages are starting now, we hope to have those interior design features and construction drawing done by early spring,” Smith said. “At that point, they’ll go out to bid and we look to be in the building in the first quarter of ’28.”
The authority’s current headquarters on Piedmont Road in Charleston has several limitations, Smith told lawmakers earlier this year. Some of the issues he mentioned included difficulty locating the building and a lack of ADA accessibility. Additionally, Smith said their customer service operations have been spread out through four different buildings from Charleston to Beckley.
He said the eventual goal is to have everyone in the same building.