“Improving The Community One Project At A Time”
PO Box 117 - Alderson W Va. 24910
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© Alderson Main Street 2013
Land Zoned For Park
Margaret Hambrick
Hello members of Alderson Main Street and members of Alderson Renaissance Corporation:
Once upon a time, a long time ago--2007 to be exact-- Renaissance, in partnership with the Town of Alderson,
applied for and got a By-ways grant to purchase land on the Greenbrier River upstream from the Alderson
Memorial Bridge. The sellers, the Lillys, were, at first, willing to sell and then not willing. So the grant sat. Then I
got a call from Mark Ames, son of Lola Reynolds, saying they were interested in selling the land across from the
Depot upon which the Alderson Hotel once sat. We went through the proper procedures to change the scope of
the grant to the purchase the hotel property instead of the Lilly property. (AMS was able to purchase the Lilly
property later.)
The grant required a certified appraiser and there was only one in the 3 counties who met the criteria. It took 3
years or more to get an appraisal from him which the Department of Transportation would accept. Finally we
were able to make an offer of the appraised price--$18,600. That wasn't enough for the sellers so it sat again.
AMS voted to add $5000 to the project for closing costs and to raise the price a little. We increased the offer to
$20,000 and it sat again. Then we got a call from the seller saying they would accept but it had to close before
May 31. Whew. Wait and then hurry up.
When I did not move fast enough, Mrs. Reynolds called City Hall and got hold of Mayor Copenhaver. He
reinforced the offer and helped her feel like she was being attended to. His attention to her helped keep the deal
on track early on. Finally, she signed the deed on May 30, 2013. The Town of Alderson owns the old hotel
property which is directly across the tracks from the Depot and goes all the way to the river.
The property is zoned open space/conservation and cannot be used for anything except park land. That is the
intention. As soon as it can be cleaned up, the plan is to add some signs which describe what the property was
used for. We have wonderful photos of the old hotel. We also understand the the original Alderson family home
may have been partially located on that property. Once it is cleaned, everyone will be able to see the depot from
the other side of the river.
So, there is work yet to do including collecting our grant funds but, finally, the Town owns this property and we
have a wonderful opportunity to make our corner of the world a little better.
Have a great weekend--I will!
Margaret Hambrick