Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
First-Class Aquatic Center at Mylan Park Officially Dedicated Friday
November 01, 2019 04:56 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
GRANVILLE, W.Va. – Four years ago, when Shane Lyons became West Virginia University's 12th director of athletics, he talked about the need to enhance the Mountaineers' athletics facilities.
Lyons learned long ago from his years working in the Atlantic Coast Conference, at Texas Tech and most recently at Alabama in the SEC, that having adequate athletic facilities is just not going to be good enough.
Adequate never trumps impressive on the card table, just as a pair of 10s are never going to beat three aces.
Well, after years of planning with the Mylan Park Foundation, the Monongalia County Commission, the Greater Morgantown Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Monongalia County Board of Education and most importantly, the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, Lyons was able to deal the Mountaineer swimming and diving programs a royal flush.
The new Aquatic Center at Mylan Park, officially dedicated Friday afternoon, is that impressive! The project was designed by Paradigm Architecture and was constructed by Morgantown-based, March-Westin, Inc.
"The one word that comes to my mind is spectacular," Lyons said. "To see this facility come to fruition after a number of years … obviously, when I got here the concept was there and then being able to put all of the numbers together and work with the community to make this happen, it's truly transformational for our swim programs.
"The old Natatorium was completely outdated and the work that it needed we probably could have never done, so to be able to collaborate with the community to build something like this for our program and for (North Central West Virginia) is something very special."
There have been videos of the new facility circulating on social media, but those don't truly capture the essence of this facility.
You have to come here and see it yourself to really appreciate its brilliance.
All of the above entities deserve a big tip of the cap for giving Monongalia County a first-class aquatic center on par with anything you will encounter in a major metropolitan area.
All of the participants, most notably Steve Farmer and his family representing the McQuain Charitable Trust; Ron Justice, Mark Nessleroad and Cliff Sutherland from the Mylan Park Foundation; Rob Alsop, Stephanie Taylor and Paula Congelio from West Virginia University; Tom Bloom, Sean Sikora and Ed Hawkins from the Monongalia County Commission; Susan Riddle and Terri Cutright from the Greater Morgantown Convention & Visitors Bureau; Dr. Eddie Campbell, Mike Kelly and Melanie Rodgers from the Monongalia County Board of Education; David McClure representing WVU Medicine; Renee Riggs and Renee (Riccio) McCutchan from the Club Mountaineer Age Group Swim Club; and of course, Lyons, swimming coach Vic Riggs and diving coach Mike Grapner representing WVU athletics, were among the thousand or so people on hand today to dedicate the facility.
Following a brief video presentation, members of the West Virginia University swimming team were asked to take a ceremonial first lap in the new pool.
Redshirt senior Austin Smith then performed the ceremonial first dive off the 10-meter diving platform.
"The first word that comes to my mind is blessed," Riggs said this afternoon. "It was just an unbelievable experience last Monday when we walked in here and this was finally a reality. For me, it's been a 13-year project trying to get it done.
"I know for the community and for WVU it's been a lot longer, so it's really been an amazing thing to be a part of."
Later this evening, the Mountaineers will christen the new facility with the first-ever intercollegiate swimming and diving competition.
This February, the Big 12 Conference will bring its swimming and diving championships to Morgantown. It will be the first time in eight years the Big 12 is taking its swimming and diving championships to a place other than Austin, Texas.
"To have not only Texas, but also the entire Big 12 here in February is going to be a great, great event," Riggs predicted.
Then in March, the NCAA Zone Diving Championships will be coming to Mylan Park. Numerous club and high school championships are already well into the planning stages.
Riggs indicated that Northeastern programs that normally don't swim in Morgantown are now considering trips to the Mountain State in the not-too-distant future.
"Over the years, you're going to see more and more programs coming here," he said.
All of this is a product of the magnificent cooperation and synergy this community currently is enjoying, along with the wonderful vision and generosity of the McQuain Charitable Trust, among others.
"When you look at that deck and the number of people representing the various organizations here today, it was very much a collaboration among a lot of different groups to make this happen," Lyons said. "We all joined hands and said, 'This is what we need as a community and let's move this thing forward and see what happens with it.'
"I'm hoping it's a game-changer for the future," he added.
If Monongalia County Ballpark and what it has recently helped Randy Mazey's West Virginia University baseball program accomplish is any indication, then this facility gives young, competitive swimmers from Weirton to Welch, Martinsburg to Matewan, and all points in between a first-class, Power 5 conference swimming and diving program for which to compete.
As master of ceremonies Tony Caridi noted in his concluding remarks, "It truly is a great day to be a Mountaineer!"
Lyons learned long ago from his years working in the Atlantic Coast Conference, at Texas Tech and most recently at Alabama in the SEC, that having adequate athletic facilities is just not going to be good enough.
Adequate never trumps impressive on the card table, just as a pair of 10s are never going to beat three aces.
Well, after years of planning with the Mylan Park Foundation, the Monongalia County Commission, the Greater Morgantown Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Monongalia County Board of Education and most importantly, the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, Lyons was able to deal the Mountaineer swimming and diving programs a royal flush.
The new Aquatic Center at Mylan Park, officially dedicated Friday afternoon, is that impressive! The project was designed by Paradigm Architecture and was constructed by Morgantown-based, March-Westin, Inc.
"The one word that comes to my mind is spectacular," Lyons said. "To see this facility come to fruition after a number of years … obviously, when I got here the concept was there and then being able to put all of the numbers together and work with the community to make this happen, it's truly transformational for our swim programs.
"The old Natatorium was completely outdated and the work that it needed we probably could have never done, so to be able to collaborate with the community to build something like this for our program and for (North Central West Virginia) is something very special."
There have been videos of the new facility circulating on social media, but those don't truly capture the essence of this facility.
You have to come here and see it yourself to really appreciate its brilliance.
Hey Mountaineer Nation, welcome to our new crib! ?? #HailWV pic.twitter.com/mDd2sBydhR
— WVU Swim & Dive (@WVUSwimDive) October 31, 2019
All of the above entities deserve a big tip of the cap for giving Monongalia County a first-class aquatic center on par with anything you will encounter in a major metropolitan area.
All of the participants, most notably Steve Farmer and his family representing the McQuain Charitable Trust; Ron Justice, Mark Nessleroad and Cliff Sutherland from the Mylan Park Foundation; Rob Alsop, Stephanie Taylor and Paula Congelio from West Virginia University; Tom Bloom, Sean Sikora and Ed Hawkins from the Monongalia County Commission; Susan Riddle and Terri Cutright from the Greater Morgantown Convention & Visitors Bureau; Dr. Eddie Campbell, Mike Kelly and Melanie Rodgers from the Monongalia County Board of Education; David McClure representing WVU Medicine; Renee Riggs and Renee (Riccio) McCutchan from the Club Mountaineer Age Group Swim Club; and of course, Lyons, swimming coach Vic Riggs and diving coach Mike Grapner representing WVU athletics, were among the thousand or so people on hand today to dedicate the facility.
Following a brief video presentation, members of the West Virginia University swimming team were asked to take a ceremonial first lap in the new pool.Redshirt senior Austin Smith then performed the ceremonial first dive off the 10-meter diving platform.
"The first word that comes to my mind is blessed," Riggs said this afternoon. "It was just an unbelievable experience last Monday when we walked in here and this was finally a reality. For me, it's been a 13-year project trying to get it done.
"I know for the community and for WVU it's been a lot longer, so it's really been an amazing thing to be a part of."
Later this evening, the Mountaineers will christen the new facility with the first-ever intercollegiate swimming and diving competition.
This February, the Big 12 Conference will bring its swimming and diving championships to Morgantown. It will be the first time in eight years the Big 12 is taking its swimming and diving championships to a place other than Austin, Texas.
"To have not only Texas, but also the entire Big 12 here in February is going to be a great, great event," Riggs predicted.
Then in March, the NCAA Zone Diving Championships will be coming to Mylan Park. Numerous club and high school championships are already well into the planning stages.
Riggs indicated that Northeastern programs that normally don't swim in Morgantown are now considering trips to the Mountain State in the not-too-distant future.
"Over the years, you're going to see more and more programs coming here," he said.
All of this is a product of the magnificent cooperation and synergy this community currently is enjoying, along with the wonderful vision and generosity of the McQuain Charitable Trust, among others.
"When you look at that deck and the number of people representing the various organizations here today, it was very much a collaboration among a lot of different groups to make this happen," Lyons said. "We all joined hands and said, 'This is what we need as a community and let's move this thing forward and see what happens with it.'
"I'm hoping it's a game-changer for the future," he added.
If Monongalia County Ballpark and what it has recently helped Randy Mazey's West Virginia University baseball program accomplish is any indication, then this facility gives young, competitive swimmers from Weirton to Welch, Martinsburg to Matewan, and all points in between a first-class, Power 5 conference swimming and diving program for which to compete.
As master of ceremonies Tony Caridi noted in his concluding remarks, "It truly is a great day to be a Mountaineer!"
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