MORGANTOWN — BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles and Ryan Hess of Mills Group laid out an estimated $13 – $16 million plan to update and expand the Morgantown Ice Arena during Wednesday’s Monongalia County Commission meeting.
The project was identified by BOPARC as the target of funds provided by the parks and trails levy passed by voters in 2016. BOPARC will receive a total of $2.5 million over the five-year levy run and hopes that levy will be renewed in November 2020, bringing the total to $5 million.
Wiles said BOPARC intends to seek grant funds, stakeholder partnerships and private/corporate donations to assist with project costs, though the lion’s share of the funding will likely come via bonds sold against a new, dedicated annual revenue source to be provided by the city’s forthcoming 1% sales tax.
The city has conservatively estimated the tax will generate $5 million annually once it goes into effect July 2020. From the additional tax revenue, the city has said it will dedicate $1.25 million each year to BOPARC.
Mills Group was brought on to head up the overhaul, which comes with a number of expectations including:
- Completion of the project without the loss of a skating season, which runs from late August to the end of March.
- Increased capacity from 400 to at least 800 people
- A second studio (smaller) sheet of ice under roof
- ADA compliance
- The ability to have at least one sheet of ice available year round.
- An expansion of amenities like locker rooms as well as additional seating, vending options — including, potentially, a restaurant — warming areas and rentable party space, some of which will occupy space on second floors added to both ends of the building.
Hess explained that the building, which was constructed in 1978, began life as a canopy roof over an outdoor sheet of ice, with the shell of the building coming later.
While he said the building is sound structurally — particularly the glulam (glued laminate) support beams — the shell is not properly pressurized, meaning air and moisture get inside, substantially increasing operating costs.
“This building is meant to serve as a refrigerator, but it is highly under-insulated. For example, this ice arena doesn’t have the insulation you’d need to meet a single-family private residence building code,” Hess said. “So before any chiller, HVAC, heating or cooling replacement could be looked at, the building envelope needs addressed.”
Wiles said BOPARC is beginning negotiations on the architectural design of the project.
Given bonding parameters and the incremental nature of the levy revenue, she said it would likely be 2021 before the bulk of the work could begin, though some isolated aspects of the project could get underway sooner.
“I can’t really give a cut and dry date, because there may be some things we can accomplish this off season,” she said.
In other commission news, Becca Fint-Clark, the county’s 4-H youth development extension agent, provided an update on the 4-H program.
“We have 6,033 youth who were served in Monongalia County through the 4-H program,” Fint-Clark said, noting that Monongalia County remains on the top of the 4-H list.
“I’m very competitive … so I always like to have the largest number of youth served in the state, and we do have that. By far, we’ve reached the most youth in the state,” she said.
Lastly, the commission accepted the list of properties suspended from the sheriff’s tax lien sale, to be held Nov. 4.
Chief Tax Deputy Kelly Palmer said 845 properties were pulled from the sale for a variety of reasons, including bankruptcies and condemnations.
