Upshur County receives $12 million in funding for first phases of planned sports and recreation complex

BUCKHANNON — The John C. Allen Regional Hub, a planned $50 million sports and recreation complex located along Corridor H in Upshur County, took a step forward Thursday morning as state and local officials gathered at the project site to spotlight $12 million in federal funding lined up for its first two phases.

The gathering was held at the 70-acre property across from Red Rock Road — a site along Corridor H that officials have described as key to the project’s regional draw. 

Governor Patrick Morrisey made the announcement.

The $12 million is tied to the federal Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program, known as AMLER, which pairs the cleanup of old, unreclaimed mine land with new economic development. The long-anticipated funding has been in the works for some time — federal records show the project’s first two phases received preliminary approval nearly two years ago, in the summer of 2024.

The John C. Allen Regional Hub is planned as an indoor and outdoor recreation and sports complex on land donated to the county by the J.F. Allen Company in October 2022. The Upshur County Commission selected Civil & Environmental Consultants to develop the master plan in February 2023, and the firm presented its design at the commission’s Oct. 31, 2024, meeting.

The full build-out — estimated at $40 million to $50 million — would include outdoor baseball and multi-purpose athletic fields, mountain bike trails, a four-season Snowflex sled hill with a magic carpet lift, lodging and glamping options, a splash pad, a playground, pickleball courts and a 1.5-mile pedestrian loop around the site. A roughly 80,000-square-foot indoor facility is planned to house three basketball courts that convert for pickleball, wrestling and other uses, an indoor turf field, locker rooms, party rooms and a second-floor walking track.

Project consultants have said the four-season Snowflex hill would be the first of its kind in West Virginia. The complex is named after John C. Allen, the late founder of the J.F. Allen Company.

Federal records show the project’s first two phases received preliminary approval on July 30, 2024, from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. 

According to the documents, the first phase — totaling $8.63 million — covers earthwork, utilities, road and parking-area paving, construction of one multi-purpose athletic field, one baseball field, mountain bike trails, the Snowflex sled hill with magic carpet lift, lodging, landscaping and site lighting. 

The second phase — totaling $3.35 million — covers concession facilities, restrooms, a second baseball field, additional lodging, landscaping, sidewalks, crosswalks and concrete curbs and edging.

Together, the two phases would draw close to $11.98 million in federal AMLER dollars. Additional phases — including the large indoor facility — are listed as planned, with funding sources still to be determined.

In West Virginia, the WVDEP’s Office of Abandoned Mine Lands and Reclamation runs the program and convenes an advisory committee that helps select projects for federal review.

Read Monica Zalaznik’s full story on what local leaders had to say about the funding and the future of the John C. Allen Regional Hub by clicking here.