Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Rachael Taylor, of Green Bank, first shared her plans for a wellness center in Green Bank with the community nearly a decade ago. A non-profit called Northern Pocahontas Community Wellness was formed soon after and a board of directors set out to find volunteers and funding to build it.
The NPCW hit the ground running and started writing grants and hosting events such as the Space Race Rumpus to get the funds for an architectural design for the building. In the meantime, the NPCW opened a small fitness center in the annex at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School to offer some workout opportunities for the community.
Things were running smoothly until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Events were canceled and plans were put on the back burner for a couple years.
Now, with the pandemic in the rearview, Taylor and the NPCW board have returned to their efforts to plan and build a new wellness center.
The organization held a public meeting at GBEMS September 12 to give an update on plans and share information about a new branch of NPCW that was formed to focus specifically on the trails of northern Pocahontas County.
During the presentation, Taylor shared the plans for the center, which is designed to be three sections in one large building. It will include a pool, dressing rooms, concession stand and kitchen, fitness room, multi-purpose room and a full gymnasium with a walking track and bleachers.
“The pool and the dressing rooms can be closed off and people will be able to enter just that area,” Taylor said. “The middle can be sectioned off to where it is accessible to only that area and the same with the gymnasium. We did that with the thought that if the school is using it, then we would close off that pod to prevent children from interacting with the public.”
The pod design is also helpful when it comes to building the center. If the NPCW gets funding for the gymnasium, it can be built while the organization continues to seek funding for the other pods. They can be added on to the building until it is complete, as resources are available.
Taylor said at this time, NPCW is looking for volunteers who can help with event planning and fundraising efforts, as well as getting word out into the community about the center.
“We are at the phase where we need to move forward,” she said. “We’ve basically done everything that we can do – we have what we want, what we’d like – we just need to start now. So, we’re researching grant opportunities, searching for funding for startup and sustainability, we’re continuing community outreach and trying to increase the awareness.”
Board member Karen O’Neil gave a report on the new portion of NPCW, which is focused on maintaining and developing trails.
She explained that there are a series of trails at the Green Bank Observatory that need to be maintained and there is opportunity for expansion into new trails.
The development of the trails picked up pace in the past couple years when Pocahontas County applied and was awarded a Bronze and later Silver IMBA – International Mountain Biking Association – Ride Center.
The Snowshoe Highlands Area Ride Center encompasses all trails throughout Pocahontas County – from beginner to expert – and has opened the county to more opportunities for tourism and opportunity.
“They’ve done amazing things already,” O’Neil said. “Our county is what is called a Silver International Mountain Biking Association Ride Center. There are very few of these in the world. We’re already there. This is why we keep attracting these amazing events like the Mountain Bike World Cup that’s been happening the last few years. We get it next year and the year after, too.
“That’s not good enough for Pocahontas County,” she continued. “We want to do more. We want to become one of the very few Gold Ride Centers in the world. The reason again – this designation is already bringing a lot of people to the county, and we want to bring more. We want people to see how beautiful Pocahontas County is.”
One of the things the county is working on to achieve a Gold designation is adding trails to areas of the county where there are no biking trails.
There is a project that is currently seeking funding for development of trails in the Monday Lick area in Marlinton. Parallel to that project is the plan to develop more trails in Green Bank.
“I do want to emphasize that when you think about the county, we try to make sure that we’re not just building trails to build trails,” O’Neil said. “We’re trying to make sure we’re filling a niche and one of the biggest areas that our county is lacking in when you think of trails are easy trails.
“Tea Creek is awesome, but, man, there are a lot of roots – it’s hard,” she continued. “Snowshoe’s great, but it’s a downhill focus type of bike experience. So what they really want Green Bank to do is what we’re good at. We’ve already got lots of family friendly trails, so we’re going to focus on the beginning and intermediate trails here in Green Bank. Get a few advanced ones in there, too, just so everybody can ride.”
To get the plans moving, O’Neil said there needs to be an across the board assessment of what the trails will be used for, how they will be connected and what it will cost to build them. In order to gather this information, volunteers are needed and O’Neil asked those who are interested in helping with the trail system to speak up and join the effort.
After the presentations, there was a question and answer session, and attendees were also asked to fill out a wellness survey which included questions about what they would like to see the wellness center offer and if they are willing to volunteer to help get both projects off the ground.
