“ Good business leaders create a vision , articulate the vision , passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion . There is no greater feeling than building a park that impacts people ’ s lives in a profound way in our community .”
COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
With Valley Park in the process of several renovations — including an updated wave pool , a new community building with a conference center , an allaccess playground , new athletic offerings and a robust community garden project — Putnam County residents and others will benefit in 2018 from the work and creativity of a team of stellar West Virginia businesses .
GAI Consultants Inc ., ZMM Architects & Engineers , Cherry River Construction , Wolf Creek Contracting Co . and Danhill Construction Company have joined with the Putnam County Parks and Recreation Commission to transform Valley Park into an even greater destination .
“ It ’ s remarkable what can be done when a great team is assembled ,” says Dean . “ The Putnam County Commission has done an amazing job putting a great team together . It ’ s an extreme honor to be among these professionals in their industry .”
CREATING A PLAN
The project began in 2013 when GAI ’ s Community Solutions Group was hired by the Putnam County Parks and Recreation Commission to do a Parks , Recreation and Open Space , or PROS , plan for the entirety of Putnam County . According to Gilmore , the plan looked at the assets , efficiencies and needs of the county ’ s parks , and the report yielded a master plan for Valley Park .
GAI estimated the cost of the updates suggested for Valley Park , which came in at about $ 15 million , and Putnam County officials decided to use its tax increment financial , or TIF , funds to pay for the updates right away . TIF funds are money set aside from property taxes in a certain geographic area . If the property taxes are growing in a TIF district , that creates a pot of funds designated for infrastructure and recreational development .
“ It ’ s been exciting to be part of a project that is coming to fruition relatively quickly ,” says Gilmore . “ When completed , this park will prove to be a regional destination that will benefit the county economically .”
LAYING THE GROUND WORK
ZMM Architects & Engineers was hired to design a new maintenance building and the new community building and conference center . The new facilities will have stone , brick and exposed timber for a lodge look and will serve as a high-quality building for weddings , proms , receptions and other special events .
David Ferguson , vice president of ZMM , who grew up in Putnam County , is excited to be part of a project that helps his growing hometown community meet its expanding needs . “ The old community building served a wonderful purpose for many years and was a labor of love that was built by volunteers ,” he says .
He believes the new building will help Putnam County carry on beloved traditions and offer some new ones through its grander size and state-of-the-art features .
“ Architects have designed first-class facilities here ,” says Brian Hinkle of Cherry River Construction , which was hired as the subcontractor in charge of grading the land and overseeing utility work for the project . “ The architects and owners came up with a vision that ’ s first class . When it ’ s done , the people of Putnam County will be proud , and it will be an economic boon to our area .”
Wolf Creek Contracting Co . served as general contractor on the project , and the company ’ s vice president , Don Gatewood , had nothing but praise for the leadership behind the additions and renovations .
“ I ’ m impressed with how aggressive the leadership team has been about putting something like this together ,” he says . “ It ’ s going to be awesome , and we ’ re very excited to be part of it .”
“ Good business leaders create a vision , articulate the vision , passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion . There is no greater feeling than building a park that impacts people ’ s lives in a profound way in our community .”