Belington Civic Center Gets a Little TLC from Community
By BEN SIMMONS, Staff WriterArticle Photos
Fact Box
"As leaders in our community, I think that we have a civic responsibility to ensure that the young people in our community continue to have a safe and enjoyable place to enjoy recreational activities."
Mike Cvechko
President of the Barbour County
Chamber of Commerce
The Belington Civic Center received some much-needed repairs during the past week, as members of the community were joined by the Peterscreek Baptist Church of Pittsburgh, Pa., in making renovations to the building.
Each winter, the center serves more than 300 youths participating in the Jerry West Basketball league from Barbour and Randolph counties. The league teaches basketball fundamentals, sportsmanship, leadership, and most of all teamwork, to young boys and girls.
Recently, the Belington Board of Parks received a $25,000 matching grant from the Barbour County Community Development Corporation to improve the Civic Center property.
The Peterscreek Baptist Church agreed to come to Belington and assist with maintenance and repairs to the center as part of its mission trip.
The Peterscreek Baptist Church has volunteered its time and energy to various communities in West Virginia for the past 10 years. These volunteers worked under the direction of Jeff Sicker, who is a mission coordinator for World Servants in Philippi. Kenny Marsh also assisted and has been working closely with the Board of Parks in planning and coordinating the construction.
"As leaders in our community, I think that we have a civic responsibility to ensure that the young people in our community continue to have a safe and enjoyable place to enjoy recreational activities," Barbour County Chamber of Commerce President Mike Cvechko said. "City government, Belington Board of Parks, community leaders and the citizens of Belington must continue to find ways to upgrade the current facility until funding for a new facility is available."
Over the past couple of years, Cvechko said significant landscaping improvements have been made to the intersection of Route 92 and Route 250, the basketball court has been re-surfaced at the city park, the streets have been cleaned and curbs painted, and the blue building across from the pharmacy is being remodeled by the Belington Revitalization Committee.
"The main goal of the Belington Board of Parks and the Belington Revitalization Committee is to keep the ball rolling and keep as many people involved in community projects as possible," Cvechko said. "I am very confident that once the community starts to see positive things happening at the Civic Center, they will roll up their sleeves and volunteer to help. Our community is not dissimilar to other communities in that people want to see things moving forward before they get involved.
"In my eyes, this is not a community that is willing to accept status quo any longer. Hopefully you get the point - things are happening, but we must keep forging ahead. Fortunately for Belington, we do have some entrepreneurial people that are willing to take some risk and invest time and capital in our town."
Anyone who would like to volunteer or make a financial contribution to the civic center project may call Cvechko at 637-9607 for more details.
