MORGANTOWN — With apologies to Tony Caridi, not even the most dulcet, pear-shaped tones can overcome the acoustic onslaught of a PA system over an enclosed pool.
The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park hosted a grand opening ceremony on Friday, and auditory ails aside, the brief presentation served as the starting gun for a facility aimed at serving both the competitive needs of WVU and prep sports and the fitness and recreation desires of the community for years to come.
“To have a world-class facility like this in Morgantown, West Virginia — having grown up in Morgantown — this is really special,” Steve Farmer said.
Farmer was on hand representing the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, which provided the largest gift in its history, $15 million, to make the new aquatic center and neighboring track facility a reality.
“The trust felt strongly that this was an important project because it was not just a university project or a community project, but it brought everybody together,” he said.
The facilities will be owned by the Mylan Park Foundation, which financed the $33 million aquatic center, with a $15 million commitment from West Virginia University.
“The lease with WVU, I think it’s for a 40-year period. They’ll be paying, total, between athletics and WVU proper, somewhere in the $900,000 a year range,” Mylan Park Foundation President Ron Justice explained. “Then, between our user groups like the CVB, the board of education and others, is roughly another $500,000.”
The 90,000-plus square foot facility is essentially split, with competition swimming and diving amenities on one side and recreational features, including pools, a slide and outdoor splash pad on the other.
Justice said the project has been long in developing, but worth the effort.
“There are so many partners and we all stayed the course. With any project there are challenges, but there’s also opportunity,” he said. “We chose to stay focused on the opportunity and we were able to bring the people together to build the community a great facility that is unmatched in this part of the country.”
He went on to say that Huntington Bank has already signed on as named sponsor of the community pool. He said sponsors are also secured for the natatorium locker rooms and scoreboard.
Friday’s presentation included a ceremonial first lap by members of the WVU swim team and a ceremonial first dive by WVU senior Austin Smith.
WVU Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Rob Alsop said he’s looking forward to what the facility brings to the community.
“You have to see it to believe it, what’s been built up here,” he said, touting the efforts of the university, Mylan Park, the charitable trust, the county schools, the county commission and the various other partners.
“This was a determined group all working together to do something none of us could have done on our own. The impact this will have not only on competition, not only on recreation, but on tourism, I think it’s going to leverage something spectacular in our area and we’re thrilled to be a part of it.”
Information about hours of operation, membership rates, day passes and rental fees is available at mylanpark.org.
