The ceremony is final: West Virginia University, Monongalia County and Morgantown officials were on hand for the groundbreaking of a new ballpark to house Mountaineers and NY-Penn League baseball.
The ballpark, slated to open in 2015, will cost $16.2 million and is part of a larger $96-million development. With West Virginia University moving to the Big 12, a new ballpark to keep pace in the college-baseball arms race was a must, and the addition of a pro baseball team is icing on the cake. From the Daily Athenaeum:
“I would like to thank all of our state representatives; we appreciate all of the work you have done this past session to make this a reality,” [WVU Athletic Director Oliver] Luck said. “We took it into extra innings if you remember, but you kept your calm, stayed steady at the plate and you knocked it out of the park. We appreciate that very much.”
Luck said without the vision and cooperation of all involved parties, the end goal of creating a new baseball park would have never become a reality….
“We’ll have a ballpark that the Mountaineers will use, a ballpark that minor league teams will use, a ballpark that I think high school teams will use for a variety of events, community events. It’s really a ballpark that is going to belong to the people of Monongalia County.”
Rendering courtesy West Virginia University.
RELATED STORIES: West Virginia Legislature approves Morgantown TIF funding; Morgantown ballpark bill dies in leg; hopes of revival this week; NY-Penn League announces franchise shift to Morgantown; New Morgantown ballpark advances; TIF district approved for Morgantown ballpark; First TIF approved for new Morgantown ballpark; New West Virginia ballpark greenlighted by Monogalia County; West Virginia ballpark renderings released; Morgantown emerging as potential Bucs farm-team home?; Monongalia County approves WVU ballpark; Work continues on new WVU ballpark; WVU: We want new ballpark for us, NY-Penn League team
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