Town interests in Bethany are on the table now that officials voted to be a part of the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle.

"Different communities have subscribed to the BDC board over the years, and Bethany is the newest addition. We will be helping out marketing the properties that are available in the Bethany community," said Marvin Six, assistant director with the BDC.

The town of Bethany joins Weirton and Beech Bottom as municipalities on the board. Companies already expressed interest in temporary housing for oil and gas workers.

"In talking with prospects, they want to have different aspects of their businesses associated with the college or with the surrounding area in Bethany," said Six.

Also on the organization's radar are the Hancock County stadiums in Weirton and Newell. They plan to give commissioners their plan to market the properties as early as this week, and each has unique features.

"One primarily commercial and the other one will probably be something like a niche type manufacturing, isolated type of facility," said Six.

Officials plan to demolish the stadiums and sell the scrap, but an official bid will go out for buyers. Officials said they haven't come up with a resale value yet for the stadiums, and they are talking to prospective companies to figure out their plans about whether to lease or sell.