Will 2025 be a Year of Promise for Barnesville?
Will 2025 be a Year of Promise for Barnesville?
Opinion by Bruce Yarnall
Collectively, we all just turned the corner to a new year meaning 2024 is now in the ‘history books”.
The new year provides a “clean slate” to start over and look anew at the community and its prospects for a prosperous 2025.
Several initiatives and grant opportunities may bear fruit in 2025. They include
Regional Tourism Grant: Under the umbrella of the Belmont County Community Improvement Corporation (CIC), the villages of Barnesville and Powhatan Point teamed up with the Captina Conservancy to apply for a federal EPA Rural Tourism Planning Grant that proposes to explore and develop a plan for rural tourism that will also benefit the historic downtowns of the two communities. The focus is our natural resource, the Captina Creek system.
Brownfields Study: Another initiative under the umbrella of The Belmont County CIC, Crystal Lorimor, CIC director, has assembled a team of local village and school district leaders who will assess former brownfield sites in the community. The program is managed by Kansas State University through the Ohio EPA.
Lorimor has successfully tapped into resources for a similar study for the village of Bellaire that has, among other things, secured funding for the Bellaire Great Stone Viaduct Project.
Safe Routes to School Grant: A joint community grant to the Ohio Department of Transportation by the village and school district, if granted, will pay up to $500,000 in intersection, cross walk and sidewalk repairs and improvements. This will be the first application for the Bel-0-Mar Regional Council. Projects of this nature have taken place as close as Guernsey County.
Main Street Development: A collaboration established this past year between the Village of Barnesville, Barnesville Chamber and Belmont County Tourism Council, will move forward this year with a two-day assessment by the Ohio Main Street Program through Heritage Ohio. A first year plan will help direct a Barnesville Main Street work towards goals of the nationally successful downtown business model incorporating design, finance, promotion and organization.
The Chamber is doing a wonderful job Fun in the Ville and Christmas in the Ville, and now, the Christmas in the Park programs. The Main Street Program will enhance those efforts.
And, speaking of the Christmas in the Park project, this year’s display was double that of the first year. Who knows where it might go? In 1968 how many people thought the Barnesville Fall Fair would be what it is today, 60 years later?
I-70 Water Project: Talks are still underway between the Ohio EPA, commissioners of Belmont and Guernsey Counties and the village of Barnesville, to extend water service north of I-70 to the communities of Hendrysburg and Fairview. If successful, the project could also provide the missing link on this side of the Interstate – looping service from the Mt. Olivet area and Route 800 where water service now ends.
And some specific projects
Bohandy Building: The jury is still out on this building. Hopefully, this year a plan will be decided. That said, Belmont CIC Director Cyrstal Lorimor recently suggested considering subdividing the building for use as an incubator business center. Her group’s current site at the Olney Friends School Science building is at full capacity.
A similar project in Cambridge, funded by a private/public partnership, was profiled in Barnesville Area News this past week.
And guess what? This building was used for just this purpose after the Harrison Department Store failed in the Great Depression. Miltonsburg native Fred Peters, yes, he was related to Barnesville Peters family, held the underlying mortgage on the massive building. He was president of the West Virginia Conservative Life Insurance Company, headquartered in Wheeling in those days. He also owned and developed Shadow Lake near his childhood home.
Peters subdivided the building leasing out sections to various businesses. The Walter Thomas Store and Bair’s Furniture got their starts there. The building was called The Conservative Arcade. History could repeat itself.
Barnesville Tunnel and Walking Path: While this project has been coming for a long time, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s funded rehabilitation of the historic c.1870 tunnel and provide a walking path along the old rail right-of-way on Railroad Street.
There are all kinds of opportunities for the tunnel once completed including such things as “pop-up” holiday markets and miniature train rides among others.
State Theater Company: Members of the all-volunteer group and village officials are slated to talk soon about the next steps to get this “rough diamond” gem historic theater back into production. Working with Barnesville native Michael Schuster’s architectural and planning group from Cincinnati, the local efforts are realistic, flexible, and, if successful.
Barnesville leaders have long supported nonprofit economic development efforts dating back to 1940 assisting the Barnesville Hospital Association and Ohio Hills Health Center transform the community and downtown historic district. Let’s hope “open minds” prevail and folks “think outside the box” to make this project a success.
Barnesville Depot: A reset is underway for this historic train station, the last between Cambridge and Wheeling, that was saved by the community 35 years ago.
County Tourism Director Jackee Pugh is eager to help. State Senator Brian Chavez secured a state grant of $75,000 to help repair the historic clay tile roof and the local steering committee is slated to reorganize and plot the future during an meeting slated to take place on January 27.
Also of Note…..
The past year saw the opening and expansion of AMfg Labs at the former 5B’s factory as well as some retail and professional developments including a popup coffee shop and the opening of a downtown dental office by Ohio Hills Health Center.
Barnesville Hospital, now part of the regional consortium umbrella of WVU Medicine, continues to make improvements to the physical plant and has plans to expand services offered to the region.
The Barnesville Pumpkin Festival continues to hum along as a premier regional festival drawing thousands to the community each September. The Belmont County Tourism is doing an excellent job promoting this festival and the county noting this month over 58,000 views were recorded for pumpkin festival videos posted online!
And finally, our efforts establishing the Barnesville Area News Company as a volunteer-driven effort to return to the greater Barnesville area, the coverage we were long accustomed to through the former Barnesville Enterprise. In year one we achieved the first few steps of the journey – achieving nonprofit status and establishing a stand-alone website site – towards our goal of returning a print edition newspaper to the community.
Progress could take place in 2025. It depends on two old adages
“Is the glass half full or half empty?” – yes, attitude matters!
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” – believe in yourself, believe in the project and mission and it can happen!
