Mark Letenzi says he enjoys working out the puzzle of how to rehabilitate old buildings.
Letenzi (above image, center, with sissors) was joined by WV Governor Patrick Morrisey (to right of Letenzi), Charles Town Mayor Bob Trainor (2nd row far left), and a full porch of local officials and residents on May 21 to celebrate the rehabilitation of the Stephenson building at 515 East Washington Street in Charles Town.
The building was erected in 1881 to house the John Stephenson Female Seminary, one of the earliest institutions dedicated to women’s education in West Virginia. According to historical records, the building would continue to serve that mission until 1921, when it was sold to the Broscoe family in 1921 and converted to use as the Charles Town Inn. In the early 1940s, it was converted to a boarding house and then apartments.
By the time Letenzi’s company, Mitchell Park, purchased the building in 2021, it had sat vacant for two decades following a fire that had gutted the interior. He remarked during the ceremony that this “was not an easy project, it’s a small commercial project, but it has all of the requirements and complexity of a large commercial project.” He pegged the total project investment at around $2 million.
Governor Morrisey (at podium, right) noted during his remarks on Wednesday that this “is an example of what can be accomplished with hard work and a shared mission to preserve our heritage.” The Governor also noted the important interplay between historic preservation and economic development to build up West Virginia’s small historic towns.
Several other speakers highlighted their appreciation for Letenzi’s work during the Wednesday event, with Mayor Bob Trainor (at podium, left) describing the project as a “template” for downtown revitalization.
Liz Cook (standing, left), the City’s Economic Development Coordinator, shared her own personal recollections of the building, recalling stories from her mother growing up there and waiting on the front steps to be picked up by her father. Cook used her own story to illustrate why “old buildings matter because they tell our stories” and remarking that projects such as this allow the community to create “more memories and more stories” to pass on for future generations.
