Shawnee Sports Complex breaks ground on new entrance building

DUNBAR, W.Va. (WSAZ) – A $5 million expansion project is coming to a growing sports complex in our region.

The Shawnee Sports Complex Welcome Center will add about 10,000 square feet to its current welcome center. This will add extra restrooms, a second level to the building, as well as a new entrance.

“Quite frankly, when you add a 12,000 square foot entrance building, it’s going to be very nice, it’s going to have a tunnel that you have to walk through, it’s just going to enhance the visitor experience, which is what we want. We want people to come here, we want them to enjoy it, and we want them to come back,” Kanawha County Commissioner Ben Salango said.

While the entrance building is being constructed, administrative offices will be run from a trailer, and the Shawnee pavilion will double as a concession building.

This project is backed by funding, including a federal congressional directed spending grant secured by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and additional funds from the state of West Virginia, championed by Gov. Jim Justice.

Manchin was on hand for the groundbreaking– and says this expansion project adds to the economic impact the facility already brings, and will enhance the experience for young athletes and parents who make the trek to Dunbar.

“With that, you have to be able to accommodate them, once they come and see the facility. There you have to play ball and watch your children and all that. There has to be facilities for them, too, where they can gather, eat and have accommodations,” Manchin said.

The work is already underway, and the project is on track to be completed between spring and summer of next year.

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