Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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May 11, 2011

BSC students unveil design for proposed recreational center

KATE COIL Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — Students from Bluefield State College unveiled new vision for a proposed recreational center within the city of Bluefield during Tuesday’s city board meeting.

City officials asked BSC senior architecture students Sherrick Dews, Jason Hairston, Jason Duncan and Stephanie Suratos to redesign the former Norfolk & Southern freight station on Bluefield Avenue into a new recreational facility for the city.

The plans created by the students would include cages for batting and golf practice, an indoor playground, an indoor skate park, concession stands, a multi-sport gym, a rock climbing wall, and multi-use rooms for ballroom, bingo and other uses.

Students also suggested turning one of the bays into an area for car and recreational vehicle storage, which the city could use to collect income. According to the students, their design called for 146 parking spaces including 24 handicap-accesible spots.

It was also suggested fees could be charged for use of the skate park and laser tag area. Dews informed the board that, according to the students’ calculations, the laser tag area would accrue enough fees to pay for itself within a year.

Using local equipment and with current work costs, the students estimated the city could complete the project for a cost of $3.1 million dollars. Part of the plan by the students was also to research possible grant funding opportunities the city could use to finance the project.

The project was supervised under the direction of Dr. Dan Bury, a professor of architecture at BSC, and students collaborated with the city board over the course of a semester on the project.

“It has certainly given us a vision of what we can do,” Bluefield Mayor Linda Whalen said.

City Manager Andy Merriman said the presentation the students gave at the meeting was an “executive summary” of all the work they had done, and said the total project was “very detailed.” Merriman said the city could use the plan presented “as we move forward in the future with this project.”

Whalen previously told the Daily Telegraph the city was looking into grant opportunities to fund the project, including a $1.8 million grant through the Department of Highway’s Transportation Enhancement Program. Whalen said the building was also eligible through grants through the Division of Culture and History due to its historical status.

According to Whalen, the center could not only be put to recreational use but could also become a meeting point for organizations within the city.

The main building of the freight station is three-stories-tall and 6,000-square-feet. The building also includes five large loading docks Whalen said could be readapted for use in the new facility.

Whalen said the city wanted to remodel the freight station into a recreational facility to help promote healthy lifestyles among area residents.

During the meeting, the board approved a resolution to purchase eight portable Motorola XTS 2500 radios valued at $15,008.80 so that city police and fire departments will have adequate means of communication.

Merriman updated the board on the status of the city’s demolition project, indicating that at least two buildings have been torn down and that city crews are working on asbestos abatement for several residences on Third Street that will be torn down in the near future.

The board also discussed the possibility of granting land to a nondenominational group for use as a peace garden in the city park as well as notifying the Department of Highways about needed repairs on Washington Avenue and Grassy Branch Road.

— Contact Kate Coil at kcoil@bdtonline.com

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