HUNTINGTON — An iconic building that housed one of Huntington’s largest historical industries will soon get new life.
The building on 3rd Avenue, known colloquially as the sawtooth roof building, was built in 1949 to serve as ACF Industry’s machine shop for its Huntington location. It has been vacant for at least a decade, as ACF slowly dwindled its workforce from hundreds down to single digits since significant layoffs in 2001.
The site will soon be home to the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center, formerly known as the Robert C. Byrd Institute. During an event at the building on Tuesday, the center received an award of $550,221 from the Rural Development branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support the expansion of programs at the Advanced Manufacturing Center. The new facility will allow the center to double the capacity of its welding program from 35 to 70 at one time. The center trains about 700 people annually.
The center will also bring a robotics and aerospace welding program with the additional space.
The former ACF building is structurally sound but will receive $5 million worth of renovations that will begin in the spring of 2024. Construction costs will be paid with grant funding through the ACT Now Coalition’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge Application, in which the city and Huntington Municipal Development Authority (HMDA) were partners, in addition to a $1.47 million earmark from U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
The Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center hopes to occupy the structure by early 2025.
HMDA has owned the former ACF site and has attempted to market the site as prime real estate for redevelopment with its proximity to Marshall University and St. Mary’s Medical Center. Cathy Burns, executive director of HMDA, said she is hopeful that the acquisition of a lessee and the construction of the building will help spur other developments on the site.
HMDA recently sold a separate portion of the ACF site to West Virginia American Water to build office space, and construction continues on the site to build the new Marshall University baseball stadium.
“It’s amazing what a little construction will do,” Burns said.
Burns said that patience is key to seeing projects through and believes that the work being done today will benefit the residents of Huntington for many years to come.
“It might take us three years to get going, but it will last 75,” Burns said.
Huntington Mayor Steve Williams spoke about the long process taken by the city over a decade to purchase the building and begin the process of redevelopment. Williams stressed the importance of collaboration and partnerships to continue to push for progress within the city.
Williams said that the investment in the site could be the catalyst for transformation in the area and is reflective of Huntington’s boom near the industrial revolution at the turn of the 20th century.
“Huntington was built upon the market changes of the industrial revolution,” Williams said.
Williams said it’s essential for the city to follow promises with action on projects, even when it takes patience.
“None of that works if it’s not followed with action,” Williams said.