New demolition grant helps Mercer County citizens clean up their neighborhoods

PRINCETON, WV (WVNS) – A new grant is helping clean up many communities around the state.

Mercer County was awarded $750,000 of a much larger grant to aid in demolition costs.

This grant will help fund demolitions for those who request it in Mercer County.

This grant comes on the back of a pilot program that has seen 175 dilapidated structures torn down and cleaned up throughout the county.

Dilapidated Structures Officer, Lori Mills told 59News this grant will help to better the community in Mercer County. “The old expression is, ‘one bad apple spoils the bunch,’ and that’s true even in neighborhoods,” said Mills. “You see if there’s one dilapidated house, maybe other folks aren’t taking the greatest care of theirs. But what we’ve seen in the 175 that we’ve torn down is once you get that bad structure down, everybody else in the neighborhood wants to improve their properties.”

Mercer County residents can get in touch with Lori Mills at the Those Who Served War Museum to get started on their demolition process.

Although this grant will help cover the costs for residents, there will be a three-year lean as part of the contract to ensure these residents are getting their demolitions in an honest manner.

Mills added, “[The lean] ensures that folks don’t use the demo money and then turn around and sell the property for profit. That’s not the goal of the program. The program is to help people who have structures that need to come down. We also want to be diligent to make sure that they’re not profiting from that demolition.”

This grant will last through August 2025.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.