In November, it was announced that Augusta had acquired the four-floor building, which sits in the heart of downtown on Davis Avenue and Third Street.

Since then, several offices have opened in Augusta’s new home, and there are parts of the building that are already hosting classes. 

“We are occupying the second floor and those are offices and classrooms right now,” Augusta Heritage Center Executive Director Seth Young told The Inter-Mountain Monday. “We operate daily between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and we have moved archives down into the new space. We have begun digitization work on the archives we have.”

Young said that Augusta is currently hosting the first of its community based classes at its new location. 

Submitted photos Seth Maynard teaches a youth strings program being offered by the Augusta Heritage Center in its new facility in downtown Elkins, the historic Wilt Building on Davis Avenue.

“Those classes just started a couple weeks ago,” he said. “One of them is our Children’s Choir, called the ‘Voices of Augusta.’ They meet in one of the downtown business locations that we are renovating into a dance hall. And we’ve also started running our youth strings program called the ‘Augusta String Program.’ Students attending that class can learn the fiddle, banjo and guitar.”

The youth strings program is currently being offered in the dance hall, as well as two classroom spaces on the second floor, Young said.

“Those classes are going well and we will soon start rehearsing our community choir in the dance hall space downstairs,” Young said. “But renovations are underway and the building is being completely re-developed.”  

Young said staff and volunteers have worked hard to open the new facility.

“The plan was to move pretty quickly. We wanted to be up and operating as fast as possible,” Young said. “Getting in here as fast as we have would not have been possible without our dedicated team of volunteers, who we can’t thank enough. They have been moving things from storage spaces to the new Augusta Heritage Center and they have also been combing through files and over 50 years of documents. They’ve been pulling out a lot of historic memorabilia that would have been lost.”

Although the enrollment period is winding down for the ongoing youth classes at the Augusta Heritage Center, a few open spots may be available, Young said.

“We are running into our third rehearsal, but if there’s somebody who is just now learning of this opportunity, and they want to enroll their child, please give us a call or email us because there’s always possibilities,” he said. “We also want to let folks know what opportunities are out there for them, now that we have moved downtown.”

Augusta has a host of events scheduled throughout the remainder of the year, including a new partnership.

“We’ve partnered with area hotels, most specifically the newly renovated Tygart Hotel and the Holiday Inn Express,” Young said. “We will be running two brand new programs downtown with those hotels. One will be in the spring and one will be held this fall.”

The spring event will be a Guitar Fingerpicking Getaway, which will be a weekend-long conference. The fall event will be a swing weekend that will feature educational opportunities for both musicians and dancers.

“We are working with both hotels for group discount rates, and we will be using them for workshop spaces as needed,” Young said. “We will also be engaging in serving meals, specifically at the new Oxley House Restaurant at the Tygart Hotel.”

The Augusta Heritage Center’s traditional Summer Workshops are scheduled to be offered in the month of July, and will feature three separate theme weeks, including: Cajun/Creole and Classic County (July 7-12); Bluegrass and Vocal (July 14-19); and Old-Time, Blues and Teen Week (July 21-26).

For more information on any of the Augusta Heritage Center’s happenings, visit  augustaartsandculture.org or call 304-637-1209.