MORGANTOWN — What does the future hold for the Morgantown Ice Arena?
Morgantown’s Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners took the first step in answering that question Wednesday, approving a $15,400 contract with Omni Architects to conduct an evaluation of the building.
The vote marks the first official action since February, when BOPARC pulled the plug on a $15 million overhaul of the facility in the face of soaring costs and mounting pushback from user groups over the scope of the project.
It was explained at the time that Mylan Park would look into the construction of a facility more suited to the competitive needs of groups like the Morgantown Hockey Association and WVU Hockey while BOPARC would explore arena improvements aimed at community recreation.
Which brings us back to Wednesday.
“This phase is really about seeing what a future project might be,” BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles explained. “We just need to see what we can do and what would allow us to keep that building open with ice and keep it open in the summertime as we do now as an athletic space.”
Wiles said a major component of this opening phase will be determining the condition of the glycol lines that run beneath the existing slab as well as the status of the building’s other mechanical components.
“We want to make sure those lines are OK before we invest dollars into anything other than seeing how long the building is going to last and provide ice,” she said. “We really need to scope those lines … Those lines do tend to get buildup in them after several years and they’ve been in there for decades.”
BOPARC already has a $520,000 grant through West Virginia’s Land and Water Conservation Fund in hand to replace the building’s roof. That grant requires a dollar-for-dollar local match.
BOPARC will also end up with about $2.5 million in excess levy dollars for the project through the end of the county-wide parks and recreation levy.
“We really just need to see what we can do,” Wiles said.
BOPARC Chair Danielle Trumble said this project is a far cry from the $15 million dollar undertaking being contemplated earlier this year.
“They will come back to us with a recommendation on whether this building is feasible to maintain ice, or not,” she said. “If not, what actually needs to be done to make that happen.”
Omni was one of three firms, including Mills Group and Alpha Associates, to bid. Mills Group was originally hired in December 2017 to helm the since-abandoned original project.
In other BOPARC news, Wiles said a public information and input meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on July 12 in the Marilla Center regarding the future of lower Marilla Park.
BOPARC is reimagining the lower park in conjunction with the construction of a new pool complex in the park’s upper section.
