INWOOD, W.Va. — After more than 2 1/2 years of planning, the Project All Star sports plex has gotten a boost with the signing of Senate Bill 749 on Monday afternoon.
Dozens of young athletes, coaches and families were on hand Monday as Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed the bill to usher in the sports complex in Berkeley County off Tabler Station Road.
The ceremonial signing for Senate Bill 749 took place at the W. Randy Smith Center right beside Musselman High School. That bill allows a special STIF (Sales Tax Increment Financing plan) tax district, according to Berkeley County Economic Development Director Jennifer Smith.
“The special tax district allows us to keep that tax revenue here locally in Berkeley County to help build the infrastructure, the water, sewer, the public infrastructure needed to build this facility,” Smith said.
In the end she says the price tag for the project comes to $186.5 million. Smith spoke to the assembled audience Monday.
“The Economic Opportunity Development District is about long-term investment where it takes the growth that is happening here and reinvests directly back into the infrastructure that makes that growth possible,” Smith said.
“And again, let me be very clear, it does not increase taxes at all. It keeps that sales tax generated within a defined district here locally, so we can fund the roads, the water, the sewer, the public infrastructure needed to build that development.”
Smith and Governor Morrissey thanked the entire legislative delegation from the Eastern Panhandle, many of whom were in attendance. State Senator Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, was the lead sponsor of the bill.
“There are a lot of travel teams in our area and, and every weekend I know they travel to some other place to, to play whatever sport that they’re involved in. But now they’re going to be able to have those right here in our backyard,” he said.
“And it’s certainly a great economic development tool for our area. But really it helps give some a sense of pride to our community, especially the children who are going to be participating in the sportsplex,” said Barrett.
Berkeley County Commissioner Steve Catlett was the longtime head of the Martinsburg Berkeley County Parks and Recreation Department. He talked about the potential of unlocking the 275 acres as a place for sports.
“Of course we’re in a very nice facility that we built while I was a director of Parks and Rec and and this will be even bigger than that,” Catlett told the Panhandle News Network ahead of the bill signing at the Randy Smith Center. “This facility will be able to complement hopefully the new facility once it’s built if they have an overflow need. It should work out really well.”
Morrissey praised the cooperation of the entire legislative delegation from the Panhandle commissioners in both Berkeley and Jefferson counties who were in attendance and said the Eastern Panhandle is the right place for the project.
“The tax revenue generated by this project is going to help pay for the infrastructure, meaning the projects literally going to pay for itself with new businesses coming in that wouldn’t be here before,” the governor said.
“This is going to draw many thousands of people to this area and I think it’s going to create a ripple effect that’s going to strengthen our entire local economy.”
Among the local delegation. Berkeley County Delegate Mike Hornby talked about the impact of the project in the south Berkeley area.
“I think it’s long overdue,” he said. “And with with the place where it’s actually located, it’s right off the Interstate. So I don’t think we’re going to see that much influence in a negative way. I think it can only be positive to the small businesses, restaurants, hotels, things like that will help with our CVBs.”
“I think it’s all positive,” Hornby said.
Berkeley County Delegate Chuck Horst weighed in, as well. “I think he’s going to be a huge thing for Berkeley County. I mean, we’re going to draw people in from out of the county when this is all said and done. It’s, it’s going to be big. It’s going to be big for local economy. There’s going to be a lot of outside money,” Horst said.
“And here locally in Berkeley County, it’s, it’s just going to be a good thing. It’s going to be great for the kids. It’s going to going to be another thing for folks to do. Everybody complaints all the time. We hear it all the time that there’s nothing to do in Berkeley County. This will be one of those things where there is something to do.”
Senator Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, said the facility will help the youth of the area.
“We’ve been fighting for so long to get more things for our young people,” Rucker said. “This is going to be a benefit to everyone in the community. Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan and also folks from Maryland and Virginia.”
There were dozens of teenage athletes on hand who joined Morrissey after the signing.
Economic Development Director Jennifer Smith talked about what families and local athletes might look forward to when the complex is built.
“They get to play in a home court that they can potentially call their own. A lot of travel, parents are traveling all over the country sometimes and you know, they get to do that right here in their hometown.”
Also on hand was president and CEO of WVU Medicine East, Mark O’Hern, who said a partnership that includes the hospital system will bring state-of-the-art orthopedic care to the South Berkeley facility and could become a place for new orthopedists to train.
“We’re, we’re incredibly excited about this particular project. As we think about keeping care local in the Eastern Panhandle at WV Medicine and improving the health trajectory of our community. We are committed to building a very large orthopedic and sports medicine center of excellence that will be attached to the primary building that you heard the governor speak about. We also are looking to have urgent care facilities and primary care facilities on the campus because as you can imagine, with this amount of activity and athletes coming on campus, inevitably there’s going to be some sort of sports-related injury. And so we want to make sure that we have availability,” O’Hern said, adding WVU Medicine would be “the exclusive medical provider, event medicine, orthopedic, sports medicine, concussion medicine all within this new complex.”
“So we could be more excited about it as we are growing to partner with Jennifer and the the Development Authority on this project.”
As to how this might improve performance for area athletics, O’Hern said, “Part of this orthopedic complex that we’re contemplating will have a strength training, physical therapy, occupational therapy for the year round athlete. And so even when they’re offseason we will have programs available to those young athletes.”
“We also are obviously an academic medical center and so we will have many students at the facility training to be the next orthopedic surgeon through either a medical school or a residency program or our new nursing program that we will be building,” O’Hern said, adding, “We will have those nurses on the campus as well to do training.”
“I think this type of a facility as a destination complex to take care of all of the world class athletes, but also all of our local. School partners, as we think about the partnerships that we have with Berkeley and Jefferson schools, having those athletes use this center as a facility for training and strength training.”
A press release from the governor’s office touts some of the plans:
The Berkeley County site is slated for 556,000 square feet of retail space, anchored by three new hotels and six restaurants. The development also features a massive commitment to public health and athletics, with a $74 million indoor facility for basketball, volleyball, and pickleball, followed by a $56 million outdoor complex for soccer, football, and baseball. Once complete, the project is projected to generate $61.1 million in new local spending and add 100,000 hotel room nights to the region.