Photo by Alan Olson The former Bishop Donahue High School building now serves as the city center for McMechen, after its formal purchase for $1 in March.

McMECHEN — City leaders said they hope the building that formerly housed Bishop Donahue High School will live on as a city-owned structure.

The specifics of the future of the building have not yet been set in stone. However, mayor Gregg Wolfe said he has high hopes for the building.

“It’s going to be the city offices, have some space for rent, the gymnasium is going to be a multi-use facility,” said Wolfe. “We’re still exploring all the options, but we’re just grateful for the opportunity to use it for all sorts of city services. It was a great fit for the community, and a lot of people have emotional ties. Kids went to school there. We’ve had a lot of support.”

Curriculum ended at Bishop Donahue after its May 2017 graduation. The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston said it was considering plans to use it for seminary training.

However, torrential floods hit the city during the summer of 2017, leaving the municipal building muddy and unusable.

After the city used the Center McMechen Elementary School and then the former Siridopolous Law Office building to try to conduct business, the diocese leased the Bishop Donahue building to the city.

That was in December. By March, the city owned the building at a cost of $1.

Tim Bishop, spokesman for the diocese, said it was happy to be able to assist the city in its time of need.

“We’re very excited that McMechen is going to take over that space,” said Bishop. “We’re proud to see it being used as the city center, and we’re very happy to be part of that sale. We were honored to work with them towards the deal, and we think it’s a great thing for the city, especially after their building was destroyed.

“We though to ourselves, ‘If we’re not going to be able to use it for a religious purpose, this would be the next best thing,'” he said “The city suffered such great damage in the flooding, and that was the impetus behind us. They had nothing, nowhere to go, and here we are with a building that we can work with to make it their new home. It was really a win-win — the city of McMechen gets a great new building to turn into their city center, and we could help them do that.”

Wolfe said he would be happy to see the school return as the center of the community, and that renting out space for businesses — in a manner similar to Moundsville’s Sanford Center — would be productive for the community and for the city.

“It’s way more space than the city actually needs, it’s clean, and it’s a good building. … Rec has had a couple open gym sessions, when the weather’s bad,” said Wolfe. “Back in the day, there were fundraisers, steak fries, wedding receptions. There’s all sorts of uses there, and I wouldn’t mind seeing that continue.”

City clerk Julie Bratton said the city would talk with local business bureaus and development agencies to try and find the best use for the building.

“I’m sure we can find the right fit, if that’s working with the Regional Economic Development Council,” said Bratton. “We’d like to find the right fit of companies, businesses, that want to rent here. We’re working on putting a business plan together.”