Empty buildings that once housed some businesses in Wellsburg, W.Va, are boarded up and overgrown. Some long-time residents are upset by how much the town has changed throughout the years.

"You had visitors coming to Wellsburg that weren't from the area. It was busy. People were downtown. Now, you walk downtown, there is nothing. Empty, dilapidated buildings," said Marie Lauck, who's lived in Wellsburg for 25 years.

"I know both of my children have left this area, have jobs in other areas, and no plans of coming back, because there's nothing here," said lifelong Wellsburg resident Louis Hensler.

However, a new committee -- the Wellsburg Urban Redevelopment Board -- has hopes of cleaning up those old buildings and bringing new businesses into the area.

According to board chair Ryan Weld, when local steel mills closed, many families and businesses also packed up and moved out.

"When those jobs left, not only did those jobs leave, but the support jobs, and the places where those people spent their money, the diners, the clothing stores," Weld said. "Those are the type of things when all of those people left, the economy took a downturn, and Wellsburg became a victim of the economy at large in this area."

The board is in the process of applying for state and federal grants to aid potential buyers in the demolition and clean-up of empty buildings in an effort to help bring more businesses and people back to the town.

"We want to develop it, because it's next to the main thoroughfare here in Wellsburg. We don't want people to come through Wellsburg and see an empty building," Weld said. "We want them to come through Wellsburg and see something that is attractive to them. A market, a stop on the bike trail here in Wellsburg. We want it to be something that is not an eyesore-- but eye-catching."

On Aug. 11, the board will meet at the Salvation Army in Wellsburg from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. They are inviting the public to come to the meeting and discuss any ideas they have for the old glass factory building.