Pickering Associates President and CEO Ryan Taylor describes the designs for a proposed $13 million recreation and activity center to be built in City Park during a presentation in Parkersburg City Council chambers Tuesday evening. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — Renderings of an approximately 58,000-square-foot, $13 million recreation and activity center were presented Tuesday at a public meeting in Parkersburg City Council chambers.

The presentation by Pickering Associates preceded a regular meeting in which council approved budget revisions including more than $2 million in American Rescue Plan funds to purchase a fire truck, two trash trucks and two street sweepers.

Pickering Associates began working on a parks master plan for the city in the fall of 2017. They identified 30 potential projects, some of which have been done or are underway, including renovations to Bennett Stump Field at City Park, said Ryan Taylor, Pickering president and CEO.

In 2021, they focused on four in particular, one of which became the ongoing rehabilitation of the Southwood Park Pool. Another was the recreation and activity center Taylor outlined for members of council and area residents Tuesday.

“It’s significantly larger than the facility you have now,” he said, referring to the park’s nearly 100-year-old, 10,500-square-foot pavilion. “Our goal for this design was to make it very nimble for the community, very multipurpose.”

Mayor Tom Joyce outlines potential uses for a proposed recreation and activity center in City Park during a public presentation prior to Tuesday’s Parkersburg City Council meeting. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

The center would be built where the pavilion and police substation now stand. It would have multiple rooms for activities, including a large area with concrete flooring and garage doors to allow access to vehicles and another space with pull-out bleachers.

Taylor and Mayor Tom Joyce said it could play host to events like car and boat shows, concerts, science fairs, chess tournaments, fairs and festivals and more.

“It would be the largest event center around,” Taylor said. “I’m excited. I have three boys. I would love for them to take advantage of this facility.”

Since the presentation was announced in a newspaper article over the weekend, Joyce said he’s received calls from people affiliated with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, radio-controlled car enthusiasts, ATV and UTV dealers and more.

“To me, that just reiterates … if we’re going to do this, let’s make it as, I guess, useful to as many people as we can,” he said.

Pickering Associates President and CEO Ryan Taylor describes the designs for a proposed $13 million recreation and activity center to be built in City Park during a presentation in Parkersburg City Council chambers Tuesday evening. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Taylor said the design will go into more detail and be fine tuned, but the proposed budget is $13 million.

Joyce said he was not prepared to discuss specific funding sources Tuesday but noted the city has roughly $10 million formerly allocated to the Memorial Bridge and more than $3.3 million remaining in ARPA funds. There has been interest from private entities in contributing, and Joyce said he would seek funding assistance from state and federal sources as well.

“We need to appropriate some money up front, and then we need to figure out how we close whatever gaps there are,” he said. “If council is committed to this project, I will make a big effort to see what and how the state of West Virginia can contribute.”

Joyce said he did not want the city to take on debt for the project, but that decision would ultimately be up to council.

Taylor said incorporating the existing pavilion into the design was considered but ultimately dismissed as too expensive. Councilman Bob Mercer said a lot of people would like to see the pavilion remain.

Mayor Tom Joyce, left, recognizes the West Virginia Class AAA champion Parkersburg South High School wrestling team, its coaches and the athletes’ parents during Tuesday’s Parkersburg City Council meeting at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

“If that facility is that important to the community, we can shrink the size” of the new one to put funds toward renovating the pavilion, Taylor said.

Joyce said he would like to get feedback on the proposal at a public meeting or two in the future.

Council President Sharon Kuhl said she was excited to see the city moving forward on the project after years of discussion.

“I think that this is going to be phenomenal for Parkersburg for the activities that this is going to bring in,” she said.

Councilman Zach Stanley asked about a timeline for the project. With so much planning already accomplished, Taylor said it could conceivably be put out to bid this summer, with ground broken early next year.

Mayor Tom Joyce, left, discusses his time as a wrestler after honoring members of the West Virginia Class AAA champion Parkersburg South High School wrestling team during Tuesday’s Parkersburg City Council meeting at the Municipal Building. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

“You could be in this place by ’25,” he said.

The regular council meeting followed, lasting less than 20 minutes. Joyce recognized the 2023 West Virginia Class AAA state champion wrestling team from Parkersburg South High School, and council passed the resolution approving the allocation of $2,365,000 in ARPA funds for the equipment purchases and work related to the floodwall on an 8-0 vote, with Councilman J.R. Carpenter absent. The revisions also include $90,000 from the general fund’s contingency line item for repairs to the Southwood Park water slide and $60,000 to pay off the Fire Department’s share of a burn tower built five years ago.

The first reading of an ordinance extending the time frames for Building Enforcement Agency hearings also passed 8-0, as did a resolution scheduling next month’s council meetings for April 18 and 25.