Charleston, West Virginia — Officials are saying goodbye to a part of the city of Charleston's past and looking to the future as it moves further into the $40 billion industry of sports tourism.
Demolition of the former Macy's store at Charleston Town Center Mall has officially begun to make way for the future Capital Sports Center.
The people behind the effort, city officials and the Kanawha County Commission held a press conference Thursday afternoon to discuss next steps and the construction process that will soon begin on the $80 million effort.
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin also attended the event. He provided his $2 million in Congressional directed spending and helped establish a foundation to put money into the project.
Manchin said he didn't hesitate to invest in something that would generate an even greater return on investment, adding that it would be even bigger than the mall delivered in its heyday after opening in 1983.
“People who remember when this mall first opened thought it was the biggest thing to hit West Virginia and it was right in downtown Charleston, and it was The excitement that ensued and the amount of revenue that it generated and, you know, the life cycle that went away,” Manchin said. “What's going to happen soon is going to be bigger than that.”
The city and commission have also committed $5 million each to the project and are currently requesting additional direct federal funding.
Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said state leaders also know the benefits such a major sports facility can bring, so it's another potential source of funding.
“States are doing it better than anyone else right now. They're putting more money into travel and tourism than ever before because they think there's a good return on investment. So there's going to be a lot of problems,” Goodwin said. said. .
Commissioner Ben Salango said the first phase of the project alone is expected to cost about $60 million, including a significant portion of demolition and preliminary work to build the approximately 196,000-square-foot sports center. is included.
Rodney Loftis & Sons is responsible for demolishing the Macy's building, which will make up the bulk of the new facility. It is expected to take six to eight weeks to fully demolish the building.
Following the demolition process, the final steps of the architectural and design planning phase will begin, which will be handled by ZMM Architects.
Preliminary designs include approximately six basketball courts, approximately 12 volleyball courts and approximately eight pickleball courts. In addition, the indoor complex will include an aquatic center with wrestling mats, a fitness center, a turf soccer field, a rock climbing wall, a main gym and an Olympic-sized pool.
Three floors of Parking Lot B at Town Center will also be demolished to make way for an aquatic center within the facility.
However, Salango said the second phase of the project has been held up due to property acquisitions, an issue they continue to work on.
But what they didn't want was to delay all the profits from the first phase while waiting to acquire the property, he said.
“There will be an economic impact of millions of dollars. Why delay it for years while you are negotiating the acquisition of the property,” Salango said.
The Capital Sports Center Committee also works with Sports Facilities Inc., a national firm that helps design large sports complexes like the one being built in Charleston. Goodwin said they know how to make this effort sustainable.
But she said there were no longer any concerns about whether the sports center would be successful in the city.
“This facility is going to be filled and booked out before we actually start construction, because there are already companies and organizations that are saying, 'When is this going to be completed because we want to host a tournament there?' '' Goodwin said.
Manchin said he is committed to helping see the project through to completion.
He said there are various areas that can be leveraged to obtain more funding for projects.
“As the transition is going on, we have different opportunities that we can take advantage of, so we have to look and look for the opportunities that we have, and there are quite a few. ” Manchin said.
Goodwin said sports tourism is the future, with hundreds of teams and thousands of athletes from around the country regularly coming to sports complexes in other states, and the new facility will bring the city and state more than 40 million yen. He said he would give most of the dollar. industry.
She said there is something known as anchor facility standards, which means the facility has the ability to host some of the biggest tournaments in the country, and that's what the sports complex aims to do. Goodwin added that this means researching everything from the number of basketball courts to where locker rooms are located is an important part of the process of getting there. .
“We will never be able to compete at the national level without an anchor-level facility, one that has eight basketball courts, 16 volleyball courts, and is a stone's throw from the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. . We will be able to book more of those events,” she said.
Goodwin said he plans to unveil a different but similar design plan for the complex in the coming weeks once plans are finalized.
Salango said the sports center's economic impact is expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars.
“All of these big-ticket travel sports are coming to town, and by combining that with the assets we already have at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, we can host the largest basketball and volleyball tournaments in the country. “Country,'' Salango said.
The entire Capital Sports Center project is expected to take approximately two to three years to complete.
