City unveils plans for 90-acre park

SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. (WSAZ) – City officials in Summersville said their area currently provides outdated sports facilities for kids.

Mayor Robert Shafer hopes the city’s plans for a 90-acre, state-of-the-art sports complex will change that.

“With the facilities we have now, we have a lot of challenges because we try to get a lot of the same activities using the same playgrounds,” Shafer said. “There is nothing like what we are going to have here. You would have to go several counties away to find something like this.”

The first renderings were unveiled Monday at a City Council meeting.

Shafer said they are in the process of annexing the land in order for the park to be inside city limits. Shafer said a primary goal for the park is to get kids outside with healthy activities following the pandemic.

“It is going to include walking, biking, hiking, soccer, softball, baseball,” Shafer said.

Along with the sports complex, the park will have hiking, mountain biking, a playground and play space for kids with disabilities.

Shafer hopes the sports complex also attracts sports tournaments, and even tourists who are in the area checking out New River Gorge National Park.

“As many are going to try to capitalize on that, we are too. That national park designation is going to do incredible things for not just southern West Virginia but for the entire state,” Shafer said.

The city hopes to break ground on the complex in the next year. Summersville city officials plan to fund the project through city, money, state and federal grants.

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