Putnam County Bank Sports Complex already bringing boost to local economy

PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS) — The brand new Putnam County Bank Sports Complex held its first tournament this past weekend, and it’s already having an impact on local businesses.

Four baseball and softball fields, a playground and a disc golf course make up the newest phase of the Hurricane Bridge Park.

60 teams played on the fields at the complex and at Valley park, bringing with them a lot of people and money.

“People buying fuel from here. People shopping locally here, whether it’s on Main Street or in Teays Valley. The two or three nights at the hotels. The hotel, motel tax, that’s a big impact on Hurricane, and it keeps local businesses in business,” Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards said.

Edwards told Eyewitness News the complex is being paid for by the one percent sales tax, donations and funding from the Putnam County Bank.

“We use tax dollars. It’s bonded out. We’ll be paying for it for a long time,” he said. “But, the money that will come in will trump all of that, and it’s wonderful.”

The complex is already showing to have an impact on local businesses in the area.

“We were fortunate enough to be able to get our frozen product up there in the concession stand,” owner of Belknap Dough Company, Jimmy Belknap, said. “It kind of caught everybody off guard with the amount of traffic it generated.”

With Main Street just a short distance away from the complex, Belknap said it will be a great thing for not only his business, but neighboring businesses as well.

“Gonna be great for the community, great for all the small businesses around,” he said. “For people to share, make lots of memories and hope to keep things rolling in a positive direction with it.”

Belknap told Eyewitness News he is ready to make even more pizzas for the next tournament.

“We’re definitely gonna ramp up for the next ball tournament, kind of double everything that we did,” he said. “But, we’re ready for that. We can take care of that.”

Edwards said there are eight more tournaments booked at the complex for this year, and the fields can also be rented during the week.