MORGANTOWN — Officials with the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission in town for the 2023 WVSSAC Swimming Championships — currently taking place at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park — took time earlier this week to tour its sister facility next door.
As previously reported, the push is on to bring the WVSSAC Track and Field Championships to the Track and Field Complex at Mylan Park, a $7-million facility that opened in 2018.
It’s believed that with the exception of a two-year construction hiatus in the ’70s, Laidley Field (now University of Charleston Stadium at Laidley Field) has hosted the state track meet every year since 1944.
The local contingent looking to bring that event to Mylan Park has had a bid packet ready to hand over to the WVSSAC since the original anticipated deadline in November. The group learned this week that the timeline for the bidding process remains in flux.
“Even though we gave them our application as they were leaving, they expressed some question as to when the event would be officially up for bid, and that the pandemic had pushed the event timeline and they would be in touch with information,” Visit Mountaineer Country CVB Executive Director Susan Riddle said.
If ultimately selected, the Track and Field Complex at Mylan Park would be under a four-year commitment to host the meet starting in 2024.
In anticipation of such events, the Monongalia County Commission approved $53,000 this week to build out new restroom facilities specifically for athletes, coaches and officials.
“At the time that the track facility was finished, the actual restrooms for the competitors and officials were value-engineered out to make the project come in under budget,” Commissioner Sean Sikora said. “As we were starting to have discussions about having the state track meet there, we really felt like that was imperative. … The commission really wanted to make sure we put our best foot forward in regard to our bid for the SSAC track championships.”
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