Glen Jean School

Glen Jean, Fayette County
Construction Date: Approximately 1925
Threat: Deferred Maintenance, Vandalism

August 28th, 2017 - Glen Jean High School to Be Saved:  The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia is happy to announce the Glen Jean High School’s saving. The school was built circa 1926, by Thomas McKell to provide an education to the children of Glen Jean. McKell established the town to advance his coal mining operations and named it after his wife Jean Dunn.

The building was accepted to PAWV’s Endangered Properties List in 2014 and had sat vacant since 1998. In 2017, ROYAL Corporation was able to purchase the site with plans to renovate and convert it to a facility geared towards youth ministry.

ROYAL Corporation was founded in 2006 as a mobile action sports ministry providing church services, bible studies and pastoral care for athletes, event attendees, and more. The ROYAL Family has been traveling nationwide since 2005 hosting events and sharing God's love with this generation through culturally relevant platforms.  The organization’s goal is to make sure this young generation understands their value in God's eyes and to empower them to live as ROYALTY.

The group has already begun the clean up process. If you have driven by the school, you will have noticed some building renovations, trimming of trees, and other activities.  According to spokesperson Jindy Davis, “ROYAL is beyond excited to be coming to the area and will be bringing in action sports programs to communicate to this young generation their value in God's eyes.” More to come as progress continues.

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2017 Update: After many years of unsuccessful attempts to raise interest and funds for the heavily vandalized, water-damaged building, the owners had been considering demolition.  However, the school’s preservation now looks hopeful.  Within the last six months, Camp Royal has purchased the former Glen Jean School.  Currently, there is no progress to report.  Camp Royal is a faith-based, non-profit organization whose mission is to provide the best action sports training available to the younger generation.

https://www.facebook.com/theROYALcamp/

2014: The old Glen Jean School is the last remaining structure from the original development of Glen Jean by the McKell Family, who established the town as part of their mining operations in the region. It sits adjacent to the Boy Scouts of America Bechtel Summit and the National Park Service Headquarters for the New River Gorge National River. The school ceased operations in 1997, and beginning in 1999, it served as the business offices and visitors center of the Thurmond, Glen Jean & Great New River Railroad. After the sale of the railroad in 2006, the building was closed and used for storage. It has been vacant for eight years. Since 2009, a group of private investors have owned the property and enclosed it. However, in the summer of 2013 it was heavily vandalized, and it has been subject to damaging water infiltration. Currently, the group is mobilizing to take action by assessing the feasibility of a preservation re-use project for high-quality housing and hopes it will have a mixed use.

Download 2014 Report