During a recent walk-through of the building, City Operations Manager Michael Kesecker told The Inter-Mountain that officials are starting to see “the light at the end of the tunnel” when it comes to renovating City Hall.

“Light at the end of the tunnel is still Aug. 31,” Kesecker told The Inter-Mountain on March 12. “At this point, we’re thinking July, sometime, we’ll be ready to reoccupy the building.”

Elkins City Hall has been closed for restoration and recovery work since Aug. 31, 2024, after a sewage overflow incident flooded the building’s basement and first floor, including the Elkins City Police Department.

In November, Elkins City Council approved a $1,679,900 bid for Phase II of the City Hall Rehabilitation Project, submitted by Commercial Builders, Inc. of West Virginia.

The Elkins City Executive Secretary’s suite is ready for new paint, new carpeting and new lights, Kesecker explained.

As Kesecker explained to Council, Phase II would bring City Hall out of “clean up the mess from the disaster” into remodeling the inside of the building.

During the recent walk-through, Kesecker told The Inter-Mountain that masonry repair and restoration work on the outside of City Hall is expected to begin this week, with equipment for the work arriving on Monday. Work will also continue this week on the demolition and removal of the building’s former loading dock, to make room for an ADA accessible ramp.

In the basement of the building, where the majority of the overflow occurred, the entire floor has been replaced with epoxy flooring, including several floor drains throughout the space that feed into an underground pump which then removes the waste from the premises. Kesecker stated that the restoration of the basement was nearing completion.

“If it does happen again, which we hope it doesn’t, but if it does happen again, we feel like we’re prepared for it,” Kesecker said. “Mother Nature wins every time… It could happen again, but we feel confident that if it did, there would not be near the damage nor the downtime; you would simply just clean it up and go about your business.”

On the first floor of City Hall, the Elkins City Treasurer and Utility Department’s new space is “coming along nicely,” Kesecker said as he showed off the area. The space includes added counter spaces, desk areas, a new bathroom, a new breakroom, new carpeting and more. Kesecker explained that the space was designed to be big enough to allow the City to “grow into it” if there are any additions or growth in staffing.

Another major change to the space was the removal of the building’s old elevator. As Kesecker explained, a new, specially built elevator will be put in its place; however, the elevator will be the last thing finished in the building.

“It’s simply because… it’s a special build for this building, so many components of the elevator have to be built and shipped here,” Kesecker said. “So, we might get a part to the elevator shipped here next week, but it’s not the part we need to put in first, it’s a part we need to put in two months down the road.”

On the second floor, doorways in between office spaces have been closed off to allow for each room to be private for those working there. The walls on the second and third floors are ready to be painted, Kesecker explained, and after the painting is complete, flooring will be laid out in each room.

Kesecker also elaborated on how he planned on helping ensure that the restoration and recovery work on the building lasts.

“I’m building into the Operation Department’s budget money to maintain maintenance on the building,” Kesecker said. “Because, and this is nobody’s fault, (but) there was just a lack of maintenance here for 20-30 years, and because of that, it led to the catastrophic event we had (in August 2024). So what we’re trying to do is fix it correctly, which we’re confident we are, and then allocate money to do continued maintenance on it.”

When asked if it would be possible for City Hall employees or the Elkins City Police Department to reoccupy the building before the estimated July return, or late August deadline, Kesecker explained that the City could be disqualified for a percentage of historic tax credits if they moved people back in too soon, and had to get an official certificate of occupancy.

“Right now the building is deemed unoccupiable. If we move a department in and the State Historic Preservation Office, SHPO, declares the building is then occupiable, our tax credits would stop at that point,” Kesecker said. “Our goal is to really get the maximum amount of tax credits, state and federal, that we can, so it reduces the burden on how much money we’re paying to do this refurbishment… We owe it to the taxpayers to make sure this project is done correctly and as economically as possible.”