MORGANTOWN — Despite massive crowds, a prime-time kickoff and some 250 calls to MECCA 911 in one six-hour span, a single person ended up being transported to Hope Hill Sobering Center the weekend of the Backyard Brawl.
The Mountaineers hosted another home football game last weekend; the sobering center had no visitors.
This despite requests from WVU Police to extend the facility’s hours for those two home games.
Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom sits on the HHSC Board of Directors. He said the board is actively trying to get out of its lease for the 5,100 square feet on the first floor of Hazel’s House of Hope.
“We are in the process of taking proposals. We have three interested parties that are making proposals to us and we are discussing with them and considering a transition from our current situation to a program that would fit right in with Hazel’s House of Hope,” Bloom said. “We feel like we’d definitely be able to make this transition.”
As previously reported, the facility is averaging well under one client per week since it opened its doors in October 2022.
During the HHSC Board of Directors’ August meeting, the body approved a motion stating the facility will be dissolved no later than the Oct. 31, 2024, expiration of its current lease with Hazel’s House of Hope.
The city of Morgantown and the county are the facility’s primary funding sources. Both put up $100,000 in the current fiscal year.
In other HHH news, the Monongalia County Commission agreed to serve as the governmental body responsible for a $1,194,000 earmark coming to Morgantown Community Resources, the nonprofit that serves as landlord and facilitator of the Scott Avenue social services center.
The earmark, or congressionally directed spending, was initially announced in 2022 by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s office.
“The earmark process requires a federal agency issue the grant of the earmarks. That federal agency in this case is HUD, but if the recipient of the grant is a nonprofit organization, they have to get a local governing body to be an RE, or responsible entity,” Commissioner Sean Sikora explained.
The funds will be used for capital projects addressing the building and surrounding grounds.
Those projects include: final landscaping, repaving, curbing and sidewalk repairs ($334,662); exterior brick repair, maintenance and staining, foundation repairs and a new gutter system ($258,953); remaining HVAC repairs and upgrades, wiring and electrical upgrades ($200,963); construction and build-out of remaining first floor, wall repairs, removal and remediation of asbestos/mildew/mold, carpet cleaning, painting ($193,000); improvements to the lobby and common-use space ($126,586); elevator upgrades ($24,007).
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