The pavilion in City Park is shown Friday, as asbestos abatement goes on inside in preparation for its demolition. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — The pavilion at City Park still stands for now, but one adjacent structure was demolished this week and other work to prepare for a new recreation center is underway.

The police substation in the park was razed Thursday by Jimmie Harper Construction in preparation for construction of the proposed 47,000-square-foot recreation center billed by Mayor Tom Joyce as a replacement for the pavilion and expansion of space for community events and activities in the park. The facility plans include a new substation.

The previous substation “was never needed for the building,” Joyce said Friday. “It would have been right up against it.”

The same is true of a picnic shelter near the pavilion, whose roof was being removed Friday, he said.

A date for demolition of the pavilion itself has not been announced. Jimmie Harper Construction’s JHC Abatement was working on asbestos removal and other environmental tasks inside Friday.

An excavator stands at the site of the recently demolished Parkersburg Police Department substation in City Park Thursday. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

Replacing the pavilion with a new recreation center was proposed in the spring of 2023. Some residents and Parkersburg City Council members suggested other locations would be a better choice, but a feasibility study undertaken by Pickering Associates at the city’s request found the park location to be the top choice.

Although council has allocated more than $4.4 million for the project, the exact location was not solidified until passage of a resolution at Tuesday’s council meeting. That designated the pavilion site would be transferred to the Municipal Building Commission, along with a lot in the 700 block of Briant Street the city purchased for a replacement for Fire Station 3.

The Building Commission will issue $15 million in bonds to fund construction of both facilities and lease the properties back to the city. The lease payments will repay the bondholders.

As work went on around the pavilion Friday, some people walking in the park offered their thoughts on its impending demolition.

“New is nice, but I’m always sad when they take down an old, historic building,” Parkersburg resident Penny Cross said. “I’m always for preserving the old buildings, but I know sometimes it can’t happen.”

The pavilion in City Park is shown Friday, as asbestos abatement goes on inside in preparation for its demolition. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

While generations of area families have attended events at the pavilion, Steve Closs doesn’t have much of a connection to it. He moved to the area from Oregon a little over a year ago and lives just outside the city.

“I always hate to see a historic structure get trashed,” Closs said. “I was hoping they were going to re-up the thing, maybe add to it a little bit, keep the character.”

While many people consider the nearly 100-year-old pavilion historic, Joyce has said it doesn’t meet the criteria for the National Register of Historic Places. A release from the city earlier this year said the West Virginia Historic Preservation Office determined the structure “lacks the integrity necessary to convey the historical significance to be eligible for the National Register.”

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com

This picnic shelter seen Friday beside the pavilion in City Park will be demolished in preparation for construction of a new recreation center. (Photo by Evan Bevins)