STAR CITY — The Star City riverfront is undergoing a revitalization process that includes a new boat dock and kayak launch.
The work is expected to be done this summer, and the public is being asked to help make some decisions.
The new boat docking area will be an easy-access riverfront attraction. The project is being headed by numerous groups locally, including Morgantown North Rotary, which is chaired by Mary Wimmer.
Wimmer has led the boat dock and kayak launch portion of the revitalization and is now asking for community input in the project.
She worked with Vaike Haas, a professor of landscape architecture a WVU, and university students to come up with designs for the docking area.
“Vaike and these 25 WVU students have done an immense amount of work analyzing the land and river site characteristics, designing plans to meet our project goals and learning in the process,” Wimmer said.
Wimmer and Haas narrowed the designs down to five and are asking the public to help choose its favorites.
Community members are being asked to fill out a survey with their favorite features of each design and to mail them to the Star City treasury office.
The survey made also be filled out and submitted online, at https://wvu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0vwtQJ6ik4nBY3P
Public comments should be submitted by April 20, and all comments will remain confidential.
There is a public meeting from 5-8 p.m. Wednesday at Terra Café in Star City. The public is invited to see designs and leave comments about them.
Wimmer said this has been a community-led effort since the start.
“This cooperative, largely volunteer effort is a great example of citizens working together toward a positive goal, to improve our neighborhood park as we promote people getting outside to recreate,” Wimmer said.
The docking area, projected to be completed by the end of July, will cost $38,000. Wimmer and other committees have been largely fundraising through grants.
West Virginia Commissioner of Tourism Chelsea Ruby sent a letter to the Star City Riverfront Revitalization Project, saying projects like this one, “help expand local outdoor recreation opportunities for both residents and visitors alike, and overall, stand to enrich local communities across our state now and for years to come.”
