Monongah Town Jail, before (Chris Martin photo) & after demolition

Monongah demolishes town jail

Mary “Kitty” Ahouse Morrison, Class of 1968, who lives on Lyndon Avenue in Monongah, reports that the Monongah Town Jail on her street has been razed.

Writes Kitty:

“After walking down to see I can understand why they would need to tear down. It's a mess and I guess dead animals had been in there, roof coming down and some bricks falling. Probably cost too much to keep. Just seems strange because it has always been here.”

Fairmont Times report on the Monongah Town Council’s decision to demolish the building, which hasn’t been a jail for a long time:

Monongah council to demolish old jail

By Jessica Borders Times West Virginian

MONONGAH — The Town of Monongah plans to tear down the old jail on Lyndon Avenue.

During its meeting Monday night, town council passed a motion by a 4-to-1 vote to demolish this structure, which was formerly used for storage but has fallen into disrepair. Council members Bill McCombs, Bertha Wilson, Charlie Parker and Sanford Carr voted in favor of the recommendation, and Warren Sloan voted against it.

Sloan felt that the structure should be saved because it is one of the oldest buildings in town and has historical value. He suggested that maybe council could look into funding options for fixing up the old jail.

Carr commented that he thought repairing the building would cost too much money, and he’s afraid someone is going to get hurt there. He said the old jailhouse is dangerous and needs condemned because of the brick that is falling down and the unstable garage door, and the outside frame of the building is in bad shape overall.

Plus, Monongah has been trying to address the issue of dilapidated properties in town, and needs to take action against its own blighted buildings, Carr said.

In other news:

• Family Dollar will soon be coming to Monongah.

Mayor Greg Vandetta said the store will be on Route 19 at the site of the old Huntington Bank building. (Camden Avenue at Walnut Street) Within a month, residents should start to see demolition work and other site work to make way for the new Family Dollar.

• Council addressed the town’s attempts to collect delinquent payments on water service by sending letters or making phone calls to individuals. They talked about what dollar amount for unpaid bills should warrant taking people to magistrate court to further pursue the money owed to Monongah.

The members decided that a $100 delinquent payment should be the minimum for the town to proceed to magistrate court.