Fort Gay Renovates Old High School into Multipurpose Building

By Roberta Cantrell
BSN Editor

For many, many years, kids walked the halls of the Fort Gay High School and now some folks will be calling the building home while others can visit and attend events. Renovations on the school building are almost complete and will soon include living space along with other areas specifically for community events and commercial use.

“We wanted to preserve the history to the community, and what the school was, and it’s going to be turned into something a little different,” said Coalfield Development Chief Operations Officer Casey McCann.

Coalfield Development is calling the project, “A New Day in Fort Gay,” turning the school into an apartment building with space for community events and commercial offices.

“We are now at the last stage of phase 2 and are anticipating the acceptance of leases in September,” McCann said.

Project leaders said after hearing from community members, who voiced their needs for a combination of apartments and event space, they agreed that this project was idea and the completed renovated building could be utilized throughout the community.

The top floor of the building will have eight apartments, with six one-bedroom units, and two two-bedroom units.

There will be room for event and commercial space on the bottom floor.

Coalfield Development’s projects hope to bring development to the community, while providing jobs to those doing the renovating.

“This gives training opportunities for people who otherwise would not have that or who would have barriers to employment, to gain a skill set they can use and grow from,” McCann said.

Applicants wanting to live in the apartments need to be age 62 or older, and have an income that’s 30% of the area median.

To apply contact Coalfield Development Property Site Manager Tosha Carpenter at tcarpenter@coalfield-development.org.