Future of West Middle School building

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a concert at West Middle School here in Huntington. A parent in the audience recognized me, and we started talking about West. He told me a group in the West End is trying to have West Middle School saved as a community center after it closes in about three years. A nonprofit would run it, he said.

Also, the West gym is not air conditioned, and West End folks hope the school board installs the equipment before it moves out of the school. A local nonprofit probably would have no chance raising the money to air-condition the building, he said. I told him something would have to be done before the Cammack kids move into West in a couple of years while the new school is being built.

It's good that some folks in the community are thinking ahead to life after West closes in the fall of 09, but they will need some help from somewhere. West is nearly 100 years old. School buildings from that period might not be suitable for today's use, as they have too many stairs and not enough handicap access, but their architecture is unequaled by anything that has been built since.