MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — State Senators Patricia Rucker and Jason Barrett presented $50,000 in Local Economic Development Assistance grant funding to Joe Burton, executive director of the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Board for the Accessible Playground Project at War Memorial Park this week.
This funding, combined with a $25,000 contribution from the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) W. Randy Smith Family Fund, matches a $75,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant for the project that is set to be completed next year.
Joining the Rucker and Barrett for Monday’s presentation were Susan Caperton, Executive Director of EWVCF, and Berkeley County Commission President Eddie Gochenour and Vice-President Steve Catlett.
Martinsburg/Berkeley County Parks and Rec Director Joe Burton talked about what’s already been built on the specialized play area.
“Well, we’re really excited to get phase one, our accessible playground underway,” he said. Among the features, “A great new sensory dome, which is a cool piece of equipment in the corner of this playground.”
“We’ve got a ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) sidewalk leading all the way to it. There’ll be some new handicap parking spots right in front of this area and there’s some right across the street from it,” Burton told the Panhandle News Network’s Marsha Chwalik during the event in front of the new play area.
“We will also have in place a rubber surface under the playground. So this that’s something that you can have any assisted device, walker, or wheelchair can go smoothly over to get to the equipment.”
As to how long he estimates it will take to get the playground completed, “It’s only been about two months of construction so far,” Burton said. “Now that doesn’t mention the about two plus years of grant applications and paperwork that happened before that. But it took about two months to get to where we are now and really in just a few more weeks this phase will be wrapped up.”
As to the price tag, “All this, this piece of the project is about $150,000 total. So half of that came from a federal grant through the Department of the Interior Land and Water Conservation Fund. And we’re here today celebrating the $75,000 match that’s come from a few more local sources.”
Those local sources included two allocations of $25,000 each from the LEDA (Local Economic Development Assistance) grants, presented by 16th District Senators Jason Barrett and Patricia Rucker.
Barrett, the father of two small children, said, “The parks are such an important part of our community, especially for young families and young children,” he said. “We actually bring our children to this park somewhat frequently. And, and so I know they’re looking forward to coming to play here.”
“So many children in this community really love War Memorial Park. I remember coming here when I was a kid,” Barrett said. “So, you know, we have the ability to invest in our park to help to improve the quality of life for, for our community.”
As to the local match, “When the senators and, and delegates do these local economic development assistance projects, we always ask the entity that we’re trying to help out to have some skin in the game and try to have some matching dollars, “ He said, noting this project includes “both federal dollars and local money came into this park for this particular project.”
Rucker said of the LEDA grants, “We provide these grants towards economic development opportunities, things that improve the community, bring businesses here and help folks.”
The playground, she said, “Is super essential to this area that is growing in population and I think it’s going to be a big draw.”
Berkeley County Commissioner Steve Catlett was the longtime director of Parks and Rec here in Martinsburg and Berkeley County. He called the accessible playground, “A wonderful addition to the most wonderful park in West Virginia.”
Catlett serves as the treasurer of the War Memorial Park Association. “Of course, we sponsor the breakfast every year and Joe (Burton) came to us and said, hey, we need a match. So we reached out to Senator Barrett and Rucker and are going to get $25,000 from each of them through LEDA funds and then we reached out to the Community Foundation, Randy Smith Fund to get another $25,000,” Catlett said. “So actually the park funds we don’t need, so we’re going to do some other smaller things with that funding from the breakfast this year,” he said, referring to the annual fundraising breakfast at War Memorial Park which raises funds for park improvements.
Another grant presented the same day would go to the South Berkeley Volunteer Fire Company, which Berkeley County Commissioner and long-time firefighter Eddie Gochenour said would go toward “extrication equipment for their Squad 25.”
“They they had problems with the hydraulic system so they will be updating to an all battery-powered extrication system. It’s fantastic.”
Part of the local buy in came from the endowment started by former Berkeley County Sheriff and lottery winner Randy Smith.
Susan Caperton from the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation was on hand to make the presentation. “Through the W Randy Smith Family Fund, we were able to provide a grant to help match the funds that were coming in and support this fantastic project. And Randy is so committed to the community, as is the Community Foundation. We’re honored to partner together to help support this project.”
Matthew Umstead is the director of the Office of Strategic Planning & Communications with the Berkeley County Commission. He explained the check-presentation schedule the senators were on that day. “Senator Rucker and Senator Barrett are making a four stop circuit, today to present Local Economic Development Assistance grants like these to three other entities, including the South Berkeley Volunteer Fire Department.
The others included $20,000 for Jefferson County Community Ministries to install a new water line in their new homeless facility, and $46,250 to the Bolivar Harpers Ferry Public Library to purchase equipment for their covered porch project.
