MORGANTOWN — “This is a game changer,” Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom said Wednesday in response to the announcement of a $4.7 million federal grant in support of a local project that will the first of its kind in the United States, and potentially the world.
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced that the department’s Economic Development Administration awarded the grant to the Mylan Park Foundation for the Mylan Park Regional BMX Facility.
As reported in November, the action sports park will be the first national level BMX facility in West Virginia and the first fully accessible national level BMX facility in the U.S.
“It will be the only facility in the country that will have full access to all individuals, including people who have mobility challenges,” Bloom said. “That’s the big thing, and it goes to the entire concept that we are promoting, that Mylan Park will be for everyone.”
Mylan Park’s initial aim was simply to land the BMX park. The accessibility component came to the fore when Mylan Park’s partners, including USA BMX, Action Sports Design and others, toured the park and saw what was already on offer from entities like SteppingStones and PACE Enterprises.
Bloom said there is no doubt that the facility will draw national level events into Mylan Park and national crowds into area hotels and businesses.
The $4.7 million EDA grant comes with a $1.2 million local match.
Mylan Park Foundation President Ron Justice said the $5.9 million total of the grant and local match is the anticipated cost of the facility, which will be located in the general location of the existing pavilion, next to the J.W. Ruby Community Center parking lot.
Justice said the foundation is working with numerous foundations and individuals to bring together the matching funds.
Construction timeline on the BMX facility is one year.
In other news from Wednesday’s meeting, the commission approved an agreement with the city of Morgantown for reimbursement of the cost of security provided by the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office while the city makes use of the commission’s meeting chamber.
Starting next week, the city will hold at least six evening meetings monthly in the county courthouse while Morgantown City Hall undergoes renovations.
Those meetings will include three monthly meetings of Morgantown City Council as well as meetings held by the city’s board of zoning appeals, land reuse and preservation agency and planning commission.
County Administrator Rennetta McClure said the city will reimburse the county the hourly rate for the court security employee working the after-hours shift, noting the maximum rate is $35/hour.
The city hall project is expected to take up to a year to complete.
