CHARLESTON, W.Va. – City and county officials are ready to take the next steps toward construction of the Capital Sports Center after the announcement of $7 million in congressionally directed spending to help jumpstart the project.
Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango said that money won’t fund everything, but it does get the process moving.
“That’s going to be between 10 and 15 percent, and then the rest will be funded through—hopefully, we can get some additional grants, and then we’re going to have some corporate sponsors, and then we’re going to have bonding as well,” he said Thursday on 580 Live with Dave Allen.
Plans for the Capital Sports Center were first announced in 2021, but the failure of the federal budget bill last year held up the necessary funding. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito managed to secure that money in the most recent appropriations bill signed by President Trump.
Salango sees the success of the Shawnee Sports Complex, as well as other indoor sports facilities around the state, as proof that the Capital Sports Center can be a significant boost to downtown Charleston.
“It’s working in Bridgeport. It’s working in the indoor facility in Wheeling. It’s working in other states, and I am certain that it will work here. That was the thought behind it. We saw that it worked with Shawnee. We knew that if we had an indoor facility, it would work here,” he said.
Current plans for the facility include eight basketball courts, which can be converted for use as volleyball and pickleball courts, a fitness center, a walking track, group exercise rooms, a family entertainment center, and other amenities. Salango envisions a complex that supports the local community while drawing large crowds for youth sports on the weekends.
“The facility will be able to be used by the residents, particularly during the week. There’s going to be a gym. There’s going to be pickleball. There’s going to be basketball. There’s going to be volleyball. There’s going to be a lot to do. There’s going to be rooms where people can come in and have birthday parties and those types of things, so I think it is going to be kind of a community hub,” he said.
The proposed location of the complex on the former Macy’s site at the Charleston Town Center Mall is an important factor in the next steps as the city of Charleston continues talks with the mall’s owners about all or part of the mall property being turned over to the city.
Before construction can begin, Salango said they are waiting to see if the addition of more mall property would allow architects to develop a new, single-level design rather than current plans for a three-level facility.
“If it’s one level, we’ll be able to expand the indoor running track, for instance. We’ll be able to do a lot more, and so we want to see how those talks go between the city and the Hull Group, and hopefully, those will be fruitful, and if so, we’ll modify the design,” he said.
Salango noted that the current location also would allow for future collaboration on events with the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.