Itmann Company Store is being bought and renovated

ITMANN, WV (WVNS) – A historic building is being bought in Wyoming County.

The Itmann Company Store is being renovated by ‘Restore This Town’. The Itmann Company store is considered a historic building in Wyoming County.

The building was built in the early 1920’s. According to FoxFire Realty, in 1990 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Although this building has an extensive history, it is being renovated to serve the community more.

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John Tenhoeve, Director of ‘Restore This Town’, said his plan for renovations is for the community unlike other corporations.

“Sometimes you go through towns, you see them torn down like this or you see them torn down and hotels are being put up […] big box stores are being put up because the property is a key location. Instead of restoring the history, they tear it down and put in these big box corporation stores. That does nothing for communities, that does nothing for towns; does nothing anybody besides destroy our history,” said Tenhoeve.

Some plans that are being considered include putting in businesses like restaurants with themes revolving around the coal industry to honor the company store’s history.

Tenhoeve says a coffee shop is also in the works. It will offer more than just a hot cup of joe, though.

“It’s gonna be a library slash coffee shop slash museum. Gonna take the history of the building, the history of the town and all that history stuff and incorporate all that into a coffee shop slash cafe,” said Tenhoeve to 59News.

Tenhoeve is excited and overwhelmed with the positivity of the community as they move forward with this project.

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