Often time’s volunteers don’t get to see the impact they have on a project. This is not the case with the volunteers who have helped begin the redevelopment of The Golden Rule building in Belington,WV this spring. Over 32 volunteers have spent over 220 hours donating their time and skills to bringing the 116 year old building back to life.
The Golden Rule volunteers have worked on everything from painting murals for the buildings windows while the frames are restored, to helping to remove up to 6,000 pounds of garbage, and pulling up over 6,000 square feet of old carpet and linoleum on the first floor. The work is hard and dirty but that does not seem to slow the volunteers down.
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AmeriCorps Service members volunteer to help remove trash from the Golden Rule: Patrick Facemire and Logan McDonald AFHA 2018 service members.
AmeriCorps Service Member and Preservation Alliance of West Virginia members volunteer to remove linoleum: Sarah Heuer a Elizabeth Satterfield.
Many of the volunteers are local church members who have an interest in community service but others like Mary Streets, of Belington, remembers her husband working at the Golden Rule in the 60’s and 70’s. She wants to see the building reopen and be an important part of the downtown area again. Mary spent her 83rd birthday with her daughter Stacy Streets and other volunteers at the building on July 21st of this year.
After a long hot afternoon working, I asked Mary about why she spent her birthday with us at the Golden Rule Building. She shared that the Golden Rule was full of good memories for her. She said, “It was nice to come back and visit a place where she often shopped and bought things for her kids.” She went on to say, “My husband worked here for many years and we all felt like family here.” She was the most joyous member of our volunteer crew and explained that she was happy to be part of the rehabilitation that would make her home town a better place.
.Mary Streets and Daughter Stacy Streets help to clean debris at the Golden Rule.
Volunteers like Terri Kittle from the Belington Revitalization Committee have worked for 6 years trying to get the historic building redeveloped. Terri, head of the committee is passionate about the building and its future for Belington. Terri says, “The Golden Rule is vital to bringing downtown back to life. So working with Woodlands Development Group a non-profit developer in the region just made since.”
Woodlands Development Group purchased the building in April of 2018 and the work to clean out the building began a few weeks later. Dustin Smith project manager says “The Golden Rule project is a unique case when it comes to volunteerism; it is not often that we use volunteers but everyone is so interested in the project that we are happy to have the help.”
Volunteers from Mountain Valley Bank of Elkins work with Missionaries from the Church of Latter Day Saints
Volunteer days will continue throughout the next few months until the Open House that will include refreshments, tours and discussions about planes for the building. Many of the antique items found in the building will be on display and some will be for sale to the public. The Open House is planned for Saturday, Sept. 15th at the building at 122 Crim Ave. in Belington.
It is hoped that the volunteers that have worked on the project will come to the open house to share their experiences with the community and celebrate their hand in making the Golden Rule a better place for everyone in the community.
Before photo of the main floor of the Golden Rule Building taken a week after purchase in May 2018
This is the after photo of the main floor after two volunteer days and hundreds of hours of sorting, tearing up flooring and removing trash.
The success of this project has been a grass-roots effort and will continue to be for the next few months. We had a wonderful turn out for the Golden Rule Open House with about 75 visitors stop to learn about the project or take a tour. It is hoped that new construction will begin at the start of the new year and we will have some work on the 10 upper story apartments done by summer. The Main floor will have a new elevator and a new fire safe stair well installed over the course of the next two years. Then a train depot, ticket counter with a coffee shop and retail space will be the last to be built-in the front of the first floor space.
West Virginia Mountain Mama 