CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The House of Delegates is taking steps toward helping the West Virginia Culture Center make necessary renovations, with the House Finance Committee passing a bill that would fund those projects.
West Virginia Department of Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby told lawmakers earlier this month that the culture center badly needed repairs that could cost millions of dollars. Delegates who toured the building agreed with her findings.
“My original impression walking in, thinking of what it was going to cost and what the issues were, was significantly changed,” committee vice chair Clay Riley, R-Harrison, said.
The bill headed to the House floor would use excess lottery funds to create revenue bonds that would pay for the renovations. It caps the principal amount of the bonds at $150 million.
Riley explained this money would allow the Department of Tourism enough discretion to take care of pressing needs.
“This is purely a vehicle for flexibility for the executive, giving them an option to help solve a problem,” he said.
Not all members of the committee supported the bill in its current form. Del. Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer, raised an issue with the possible $150 million maximum for the bonds.
“I do have some concern, though, with the max amount of bonds here at $150 million. That doesn’t seem to me to be a repair kind of fund. That seems to be a construction fund. That’s a lot of money,” he said.
Other delegates who toured the facility recently echoed Riley’s thoughts on needed repairs. Del. Bob Fehrenbacher, R-Wood, said maintenance workers are having a hard time even finding the equipment they need.
“The maintenance team basically had to go find parts that are no longer available. They were found on eBay from defunct businesses and scavenged parts,” he said.
Some of the core infrastructure of the building is in dire need of replacement, according to delegates as well. Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, indicated some aspects of the building are still original parts.
“The electric room was atrocious. Nothing has been done to that since it was opened. “It’s all antiquated. The heating and air conditioning are antiquated,” he said.
If passed, the bill would allow the tourism secretary to submit a list of needed renovations to the governor. Riley said there are measures for legislative oversight in place and ongoing discussions about how to use the money.
“I also know that we have asked them specifically to come back with cost estimates, with opportunities to phase, with looking at off-site locations because some of the upgrades are required to a specific temperature within a specific humidity range to make sure we don’t have degradation of our historic artifacts,” he said.