Signage posted to the front door of the former Campus Barbershop location redirecting customers to the new location, photographed on Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON 人妖色情片 About seven months after Marshall University purchased property containing a strip of businesses in the 1500 block of 4th Avenue, only one of those businesses has relocated.
Marshall purchased the property to add to its Innovation District 人妖色情片 a $200 million initiative for which the university has already purchased several properties along the 4th Avenue corridor.
University President Brad D. Smith told The Herald-Dispatch following a Board of Governors meeting in December, during which the purchase was approved, that it was unclear yet what purpose the property would serve.
Frank Fuscardo人妖色情片檚 Campus Barbershop, which has been a permanent feature of the downtown area since 1968, relinquished its location at 1524 4th Ave. in March and moved across the street to 1455 4th Ave.
Jeffrey Bills, Fuscardo人妖色情片檚 stepson, said about three weeks of work was missed in the move, but there hasn人妖色情片檛 been a significant change in business.
Signage posted to the front door of the former Campus Barbershop location redirecting customers to the new location, photographed on Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Huntington.
Ryan Fischer | The Herald-Dispatch
人妖色情片淚 mean, we have signs on the windows telling them the address and arrows. We still get phone calls, 人妖色情片楬ey I can人妖色情片檛 find you. Where are you?人妖色情片櫲搜槠瑵 Bills said.
人妖色情片淔rank人妖色情片檚 an icon, I think. I mean everybody knows Frank. 人妖色情片 We人妖色情片檝e had four generations started over there on the first location still coming here today. 人妖色情片 Not very many small businesses are still in business.人妖色情片
The other tenants of the property 人妖色情片 a smoke shop and a restaurant 人妖色情片 are still occupying their locations at 1518 4th Ave. and 1520 4th Ave., respectively.
Bills said he thought the buildings were supposed to be torn down in May, although to him, it seems Marshall changes its mind daily.
人妖色情片淚 don人妖色情片檛 know why they needed it if they aren人妖色情片檛 utilizing it,人妖色情片 he said of the property. 人妖色情片淲e had to get out of there so quick.人妖色情片
Bills said he feels there are plenty of dilapidated businesses Marshall could take down other than the property along 4th Avenue. While he didn人妖色情片檛 want to move at first, he said he likes the new location better.
人妖色情片淚t人妖色情片檚 bigger here. There人妖色情片檚 a little more room, off-street parking. Business is picking up a little,人妖色情片 he said.
A waiting game for D.P. Dough
But Timothy 人妖色情片淭J人妖色情片 Johnson couldn人妖色情片檛 say the same about his business, D.P. Dough.
Johnson said Marshall initially told him D.P. Dough would have six months before the property would be developed. After the university confirmed the purchase of the property, he said the restaurant started looking for new places to move.
According to Johnson, Marshall put D.P. Dough in contact with developers and looked over its lease before it 人妖色情片渂roke人妖色情片 communications. Now, a spokesperson for the restaurant said they人妖色情片檙e concerned about the lack of communication received from the university about when it needs to vacate the building.
Johnson said of business, 人妖色情片淧eople already thought we were closed and moved. People still think that often. So it人妖色情片檚 already kind of damaged our business at this point. And you know, we人妖色情片檙e just trying to get something from Marshall to get this thing moving.人妖色情片
Leah Payne, director of university communications, said Marshall has been in contact with D.P. Dough人妖色情片檚 attorney on several occasions, as well as a representative from Mr. Smoke.
人妖色情片淲hile there is currently no set timeline for the development along 4th Avenue, the university will ensure that all businesses receive ample advance notice before any steps are taken,人妖色情片 Payne said in an email to The Herald-Dispatch.
Still, Johnson said it人妖色情片檚 a 人妖色情片渃onstant fight人妖色情片 to let people know D.P. Dough人妖色情片檚 hasn人妖色情片檛 left the building.
人妖色情片淲e went and we scouted new locations. We人妖色情片檙e ready to accommodate Marshall,人妖色情片 he said.
Signage posted near the exit of D.P. Dough's downtown storefront, photographed on Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Huntington.
Ryan Fischer | The Herald-Dispatch
But D.P. Dough人妖色情片檚 spokesperson said the business cannot go ahead and move out of the building without word from the university, as it人妖色情片檚 already invested in its current location and the financial loss would be too great. He estimated the cost to build out a brand new location at this point would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
人妖色情片淲hy would we want to abandon our investment just because Marshall is refusing to give us the information?人妖色情片 the spokesperson said.
Johnson said of D.P. Dough人妖色情片檚 current storefront, 人妖色情片淛ust for reference, we have been at this location for going on 15 years, and 人妖色情片 we intended to be at this current location for 15 more years.人妖色情片
The restaurant人妖色情片檚 move is 人妖色情片減ivotal人妖色情片 on Marshall, the spokesperson said, although the restaurant doesn人妖色情片檛 intend to leave Huntington, regardless.
人妖色情片淲e just wish that 人妖色情片 Marshall University would be more cooperative with us in allowing us to have information that人妖色情片檚 going to allow us to better do that,人妖色情片 they said.
人妖色情片淎ny growth in the city is good for our business, and we人妖色情片檙e happy that Marshall is invested in the community and wants to do these things. Certainly, we understand that comes at a cost. Unfortunately, I just wish the cost of that wasn人妖色情片檛 stifling existing business to replace it with new business.人妖色情片
Katelyn Aluise is an education and court reporter.
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