MORGANTOWN — For kids in Morgantown, upper Marilla Park is about to become the center of the universe.
Come Memorial Day weekend, when BOPARC’s $14 million pool and aquatic complex opens in the park’s upper portion, it’ll be flanked by another brand new attraction.
Earlier this week, the Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners approved a $378,206 contract with Fairmont’s Veritas Contracting to install $245,000 worth of playground equipment a stone’s throw from the new pool – very near the location of the old playground area.
“This includes putting the playground equipment together, getting it up, doing the pour-in-place surface, revegetation and all that stuff – basically turning that space into the playground,” BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles said, explaining the play area will cover more than 7,400 square feet.
“It’s a big playground with a lot of equipment,” she said.
The playground will consist of 28 play components broken into two main sections – one appropriate for kids between two and five years old, and another for kids between five and 12.
This is actually the second time BOPARC has bid this project.
When it went out the first time, last October, the anticipated budget topped out at $300,000. The average bid came in around $380,000.
The decision was made to try again this spring in the hope costs may come down.
They haven’t.
“This is not pre-COVID, and this is a huge playground,” Wiles told members of the board.
“Reality is real and the cost of materials and supplies, especially safety surfacing, is substantial,” she later told The Dominion Post. “That said, we are committed to the provision of modern, accessible play spaces, and having bid this twice now, we are confident we’ll have one.”
While the pool and playground will begin a new chapter for the old park when they open this summer, the story is just getting started.
Wiles said BOPARC is hopeful a complete overhaul of the park’s lower section can go out to bid in late March or early April.
That work has been estimated in the $9 million range and will include a new action sports/skate park in the former pool location.
New tennis courts will move to the end of the property to fill space currently occupied by the skate park and the old shirt factory building.
Improvements will also include pickleball courts, covered and open court bleachers, a new basketball court, a recreational field, a trail head for the Marilla Connector Trail, revamped parking areas aligned with each zone and renovations to the Marilla Center.
“We’re moving along. If you’re looking at a six-week bid process, you’re looking at you guys approving the project in, hopefully, your May meeting,” Wiles told the board. “Then we’re hoping to get started in late May, early June or so.
