After more than 120 years, Kanawha Manufacturing Company and most of the property will be demolished or renovated. According its website, Kanawha Manufacturing Company opened in 1902 and served the power, coal and metal industries and employed 800 people at one point. The 110,000 square foot property was purchased by the Charleston Area Alliance last year for $2 million. The site will be redeveloped into a learning, innovation, food and technology center. The alliance’s director of economic development, Drew Dunlap, told Eyewitness News that Marshall University plans to open a battery research center at the site as well. Demolition is expected to begin next month.