Morgantown Magazine - December/January 2016 by Morgantown Magazine

BORN IN MORGANTOWN Seven daring entrepreneurs came, saw, and carved niches.

THE BUILDING OF OUR CITY

TABLE 9

This riverside eatery offers new American cuisine in an elegant space.

THE GREAT DEBATE

Who is responsible for Morgantownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sidewalks? The city or its residents?

FROM THE GROUND UP

B M A E H C SU E IS H T

volume 5

•

issue 2

PUBLISHED BY

New South Media, Inc.

709 Beechurst Avenue, Suite 14A, Morgantown, WV 26505 1116 Smith Street, Suite 211, Charleston, WV 25301 304.413.0104 • morgantownmag.com

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Nikki Bowman, nikki@newsouthmediainc.com EDITOR

Katie Griffith, katie@newsouthmediainc.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Zack Harold, zack@newsouthmediainc.com Pam Kasey, pam@newsouthmediainc.com DESIGNER

Becky Moore, becky@newsouthmediainc.com OPERATIONS MANAGER

Sarah Shaffer, sarah@newsouthmediainc.com WEB AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Katie Willard, katherine@newsouthmediainc.com STAFF WRITER

Shay Maunz, shay@newsouthmediainc.com PHOTOGRAPHER

Carla Witt Ford, carla@newsouthmediainc.com INTERN

Jennifer Skinner ADVERTISING & MARKETING MANAGER

Bekah Call, bekah@newsouthmediainc.com CONTRIBUTORS

Mikenna Pierotti, Elizabeth Roth, Jake Stump

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Subscription rate is $20 for 6 issues. Subscribe by calling 304.413.0104. EDITORIAL INQUIRIES

Unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted. Please send a query to morgantown@newsouthmediainc.com. SCENE SUBMISSIONS

Please send photos and event information for The Scene to morgantown@newsouthmediainc.com.

MORGA NTOW N is published by New South Media, Inc. Copyright: New South Media, Inc. Reproduction in part or whole is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of the publisher. © N EW SOU T H M EDI A, I NC. A LL R IGH TS R ESERV ED

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

EDITOR’S NOTE

t’s easy to look at Morgantown and see that it’s changed over the years. We all have our nostalgia stories of what wasn’t here back when and what’s new since so-and-so graduated. Mine are mostly farm-related. The build up on 705 and around the WVU Animal Sciences farm is boggling to those of us who remember the empty stretch of hills dotted with sheep and cows just outside town, though obviously the convenience of having our very own Pies & Pints and easy access to a grape and gorgonzola pie usually outweighs those “good ol’ days” memories. Morgantown’s growth story is already a long and convoluted one, and it’s far from over. Pam Kasey’s story on page 68, deftly pieced together by designer Becky Moore, takes a stab at telling the major portions of that story, from Morgantown’s first settlements— mostly forts to hold claim on a new world—to the town centers

that, with diverse dining and shopping options, make up a large part of our weekend activities. You know what’s here, and perhaps you have a basic timeline of what came when, but do you know why or by whose grace Morgantown can now boast world-class athletic facilities, shopping, dining, and entertainment options? We live in a place that’s half outdoor mecca and half a state center of culture because of the businesspeople and developers who had the foresight to create what they thought people would want. A handful of those individuals and businesses are featured on page 61, having won the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce community business awards for 2016, and you’ll know them as everything from your favorite charity to the baseball team that kept you so thoroughly entertained last summer. In this issue of Morgantown, the second in which we’ve partnered with the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce, we’ve featured the businesses and people that make this town what it is—something to be proud of.

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

Mikenna Pierotti Mikenna Pierotti moved to West Virginia in 2010 from upstate New York to complete her master’s degree in English, live in the mountains, and write. She loves digging around in the history, landscape, and culture of West Virginia, looking for those shiny gems that become great stories. She lives in Morgantown with her husband, Adam, her wiener dog, Tally, and far, far too many houseplants.

Elizabeth Roth Elizabeth grew up fishing, writing, biking, drawing, swimming, and making music in beautiful Lewisburg, West Virginia. She completed her degree in Visual Art at West Virginia University in May 2013 and has been living in Morgantown ever since. She currently works as a multimedia specialist at WVU and recently added yoga and pottery to her ever-growing list of hobbies.

Jake Stump Jake Stump is a senior writer for University Relations-News at West Virginia University, where he also teaches journalism. He earned his stripes as a reporter at The Dominion Post in the early 2000s while earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism at WVU. In 2005, the Preston County native joined the Charleston Daily Mail for five years before returning to WVU to earn a master’s degree in sociology.

Letters to the Editor K ATIE GR IFFITH,

Editor

Don’t forget to vote for the Best of Morgantown awards at morgantownmag.com! We invite you to choose everything from the best fine dining to the best dry cleaner in the final round of voting, open through December 17.

Featured Contributors

A Peek Into Prison I hope your community recognizes that you did them a great turn by trying to demystify the world of Morgantown FCI and, by doing so, bring the community and the institution closer together. ... I am sure there are no shortage of topics for you to report on but I do hope you will continue to invest your talents, as circumstances allow, to the issue of incarceration in America. Courtney Stadd, Bethesda, via email

Visiting the Ring Thanks for showing love and coming out to our practice tonight @MorgantownMag WVU Boxing Team, via Twitter

A MESSAGE FROM THE MORGANTOWN AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

’ve heard it said, the bigger the challenge, the greater the opportunity. Morgantown certainly has its share of challenges, and its business community has, time and time again, risen to seize the opportunities that have made our city a model for many. We should be proud that Morgantown consistently ranks among the top small cities in which to live and do business. We are incredibly fortunate to have opportunities that are unique to our area: Morgantown is home to West Virginia University, the state’s premier health care facilities, and an entrepreneurial spirit that gave rise to successes like Mylan Pharmaceuticals and MedExpress. These ingredients have made our city one of the economic engines of the state and, as such, we are positioned to profoundly impact our state in fostering growth, success, and a healthy and prosperous economy. Having served as a director of the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce since 2013, I’ve had the pleasure and honor of getting to know many of the innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who’ve played, and continue to play, key roles in our area’s success. I’ve become acquainted with those who breathe life into our economy, who are literally shaping our city’s landscape, and who contribute in a variety of meaningful ways to the continued growth of this very special community. I am continually impressed and encouraged by the level of energy, commitment, and creativity that these individuals and businesses bring to making the greater Morgantown area the thriving community that it is. As a chamber of commerce, we endeavor to seize and create opportunities that allow us to improve our area’s business climate and facilitate continued success in many ways. We could not accomplish any of what we do without the steadfast and tireless efforts of our chamber president, Dan Kimble, and our director of business development, Jack Thompson, both of whom somehow manage to be the omnipresent faces of the chamber, serving our members and advancing our mission. During my time on the board, I’ve witnessed more active engagement of the community’s business members and increased chamber membership because of initiatives like the Women’s Network Group, the Business After Hours events, and forums that offer opportunities for our business leaders to meet with government leaders. My experiences in serving on the board have inspired and energized me, and it is my hope that our members share in that enthusiasm as they participate in our chamber. Of course, there is always more to be done. As I begin my tenure as chair of your chamber board, I look forward to seeing unprecedented growth, both in numbers and engagement, of our membership. I anticipate the strengthening of existing partnerships with local and state government entities and public

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

and private agencies to work toward the many goals we share, as well as identifying new relationships that will expand our reach and compound the impact of our efforts. And I look forward to our chamber continuing its advancement of long-standing goals, including the improvement of the area’s infrastructure, the creation of a healthy and robust climate that attracts and retains diverse businesses and consumers, and the making of Morgantown a destination for businesses and residents alike. We are truly blessed to have so much to work with and for, and I welcome the opportunity to be a part of that work. I hope you will join me in meeting the challenges ahead and creating an even better and brighter Morgantown for all of us.

KELLY KIMBLE

Chair, Morgantown Chamber of Commerce morgantownchamber.com

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2016

CARLA WITT FORD

In This Issue

Chamber Awards

Who Built Morgantown?

Born in Morgantown

These businesses and individuals have been honored with the 2016 Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce awards.

It takes a lot of nerve to turn wilderness to farmland to city. Morgantownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth story is a story of Mountaineer grit.

Seven entrepreneurs created and developed big ideas that have grown beyond this small city.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2016

In This Issue 24

34 Departments

This Matters 6 Eat This 1 Winter-themed cupcakes are just what the baker ordered to cure those cold-weather blues.

34 What’s This The Seneca Center beckons shoppers and history lovers alike.

6 Editor’s Note

8 Know This 1 The Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce has evolved since its founding in 1920.

38 Consider This Have you ever wondered just how much WVU students bring to our community?

52 Road Rage Why does the sidewalk end? Who’s in charge of shoveling that? We answer those pedestrian questions you never knew you had.

21 Who’s This L.J. Giuliani reimagines Pleasant Street.

47 Dish It Out Table 9 brings ambience and great food to the banks of the Mon.

40 Visit This Morgantown’s many museums 5 6 Across County Lines offer plenty to do, see, and Nemacolin offers a picture-perfect learn all weekend long. winter getaway in the Laurel 24 Celebrate This Highlands of Pennsylvania. Fairmont gets festive with 44 This Matters To . . . arts, crafts, and fish. John Sonnenday explains the 91 Calendar importance of homeless 27 Shop This 96 Then & Now services in Morgantown. Try shopping local this holiday Take a look at High Street, from its season with a few gift ideas early days as a lazy thoroughfare to from our local businesses. its present.

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

ON THE COVER Photographer Carla Witt Ford captured our photo of the Wharf District’s lights from Westover just before sunrise.

EAT / LOVE / WEAR / SHOP / WATCH / KNOW / HEAR / READ / DO / WHO / WHAT

Hit the Trails

For more than 20 years, hikers have celebrated the New Year with First Day Hikes at national and state parks across the country. Last year, close to 30,000 people spent their New Year’s Day hiking more than 66,000 miles. Looking for a brisk and energetic start to 2016? Try some of these nearby spots. moderate hike along the Lake Trail. 1/2 mile Blackwater Falls State Park 1584 Blackwater Lodge Road Davis, 304.259.5216 Start on the Shay Trace Trail at 10 a.m., hike alongside Balanced Rock Trail, and loop back to camp on the Elakala Trail. 2 miles

CARLA WITT FORD

Coopers Rock State Forest 61 County Line Drive Bruceton Mills, 304.594.1561 Coopers Rock doesn’t have official first day hikes, but locals love snowshoeing and cross-country skiing on crisp winter days. Tygart Lake State Park 1240 Paul E. Malone Road Grafton, 304.265.6144 Meet at the park office at 10 a.m. on January 1 to start the

Five Shillings for Holiday Spirit

Colonial Puritans fined anyone displaying outdoor Christmas decorations in Boston from 1659 to 1681, though they’re also accredited with creating the first American eggnog beverage.

WORKING ON CHRISTMAS Christmas is the most widely celebrated federal holiday today, but the government did not recognize it until 1870. Congress even held its first session on December 25, 1789.

A Kiss Under What?

Though romanticized in western culture, mistletoe is a parasitic, poisonous plant that can weaken or kill trees it infects and cause drowsiness, blurred vision, and nausea if consumed.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

THIS MATTERS LOVETHIS

EATTHIS

Winter Cake Walk

A Float of Many Hopes Keep a lookout for WVU Children’s Hospital in the 2016 Rose Parade.

When seasonal affective disorder is getting you down, turn to cupcakes. sweets, but baking isn’t your thing. Perhaps you’re walking to class and the scent of something chocolate and sinful assaults your senses, undoing all carefully laid plans of holiday dieting. Perhaps it’s just one of those days when nothing but a cupcake will do. When that craving hits, look no farther than Morgantown’s own Cupcakerie, where bites of holiday cheer large and small await your taste buds. We love the new flavors of Hot Cocoa, Gingerbread, Sinful Mint Chocolate, Almost Heaven Apple Pie, and Pumpkin Pie, each available in mini and regularly sized treats.

The Cupcakerie

CARLA WITT FORD

194 Willey Street 304.212.5464 thecupcakerie.com

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

➼ IF YOU’VE NEVER SEEN the televised Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, 2016 will be a good year to start. At 8 a.m. on January 1, WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital will debut its first Rose Parade float adorned with state pride and messages of hope in Pasadena, California. As the state’s only Children’s Miracle Network hospital, the hospital provides special treatments like pediatric cardiothoracic surgery for sick patients across West Virginia, regardless of their families’ ability to pay. “That is West Virginia pride—taking care of our own,” says Bobby Nicholas, hospital manager of development programs. The hospital will spread the word of its mission to millions of spectators and viewers with a 55-foot adventure-themed float showcasing the state’s treasured wildlife, from bears to wildflowers, and all four seasons of outdoor recreation like whitewater rafting, biking, fishing, hiking, and skiing. “The goal of the float design was to represent West Virginia in a way that will make Mountaineers from around the world proud to call the state their home,” says Megan Skubovius, hospital development officer. Former hospital patients will ride the float, which provides sponsorship opportunities for patient transportation costs to get to the California parade. Sponsors can also purchase a rose in the float’s garden or one of 55 bricks in the float’s bridge to represent the 55 counties in West Virginia. “Our hope is to shine a positive light on our people and our way of life here in the great state of West Virginia,” Bobby says. The 127th Rose Parade kicks off at 8 a.m. PST on January 1 before the annual Rose Bowl football game. tournamentofroses.com written by JENNIFER SKINNER

COURTESY OF WVU CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

➼ PERHAPS YOU LOVE

THIS MATTERS KNOW THIS

An Evolving Purpose The Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce changes with the times.

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

The Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce is integral to the Morgantown business community, doing everything from ribbon cuttings (left) to sponsoring the annual Leadership Mon leadership classes (above).

to advocacy and community improvement, and the organization has pursued change aggressively. Along with adding more women to the chamber’s ranks—a third of the executive committee and the incoming chair are now women—the overall membership has exploded to more than 400. The chamber has increasingly begun to work with legislators and state and local governments to create beneficial laws, inform business owners of laws that might impact the business community, and advocate for improved recreation and transportation amenities that would attract new businesses. “Part of our time is spent directly advocating about business interests. The other half is a constant community improvement scenario,” Dan says. “We want to make sure there are numerous qualities to our community that make visitors and customers want to travel here and attract young people and quality employees.” In recent years the chamber has been a major player in everything from economic revitalization in areas like the Wharf District, now a thriving hub of business and recreation, to providing networking opportunities for young professionals with the Generation Morgantown initiative, to bringing investors and entrepreneurs together to form new partnerships. “We’ve evolved,” Dan says. “Chambers can no longer can sit and wait for people to come to them. We need to take an active role.” morgantownchamber.org written by MIKENNA PIEROTTI

COURTESY OF THE MORGANTOWN AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

➼ ON NOVEMBER 12, 1920, West Virginia Secretary of State Houston G. Young sat at his desk in Charleston’s state capitol, then a massive stone Victorian Gothic bristling with spires between Washington and Dickinson streets. He was poring over reams of documents needing his signature. Among them was a certificate of incorporation for a newly organized chamber of commerce requesting “the union of the various business organizations and associations for civic uplift in the city of Morgantown.” With industries like glass, coal, and education fueling Morgantown’s economy, the then-little town of just over 12,000 people was growing fast. Its population had increased more than 30 percent over the previous decade, and it would sustain that growth for at least another decade. The document listed 15 business owners, all men, willing to spearhead the new chamber’s mission of protecting, fostering, and developing commercial, manufacturing, and business interests and representing the city in local, state, and federal government decisions. Young signed the certificate that day. For more than half a century, the Morgantown Chamber of Commerce—which later became the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce—was a cornerstone of the town’s business community. “From the 1920s well up into the ’70s and ’80s, the primary way to network for the business community was the chamber,” says Dan Kimble, chamber president. “Otherwise you were on the outside. If you wanted to know about local business deals and how you would get involved, you had to be a member.” This was true in cities across the globe. If you wanted to hear about a new deal, get a better understanding of new laws, or find a business partner, you went to the local chamber. But the world changed, Dan says, and information became easier to find. “In the last 20 years, particularly with the onset of the Internet and social media, we’ve had to be in a constant state of change. The question we must ask every day is how to remain relevant. Because our old purpose, while it still exists in some ways, is not the primary one. There are now other ways to break into the business community and become part of those conversations. Now you get as much community interaction with a Facebook page as you could in the old days at a chamber meeting.” In response, the chamber’s focus has shifted from networking

THIS MATTERS

W HO'STHIS

A Neighborhood Man L.J. Giuliani, well-known as the man behind music venue 123 Pleasant Street, is quietly working to build a new downtown. ➼ FOR BEING THE MAN behind Morgantown’s oldest and arguably most beloved music venue, L.J. Giuliani is unassuming. Where you’d expect tattoos and piercings and a booming voice,

instead sits a soft-spoken family- and community-oriented business owner with a flair for the arts. The flannel shirt might be expected, and the beanie. But the priorities of this core member

of Morgantown’s small businesses have changed since he started a family. No more 2 a.m. stints at Thursday night shows hanging with rockers like indie star David Bello and the Grammy-nominated band SOJA. He has two little ones to get to bed and a wife he’d rather spend time with. He’s a family man, neighborly, and more interested in what his businesses do for the community and young families like his than how much money they make. Seventeen years ago the club that’s now affectionately dubbed 123 was called Nyabinghi Dance Hall. In February of 1998 the building was condemned. “At the time I was a patron of the place,” L.J. says. “I came down for live music and a lot of my peers and friends were musicians. When the place closed down it was like, ‘Oh, what are we going to do now?’ This was the most legit local place for performers.” In its earlier years, first as Underground Railroad and then as Nyabinghi, the club stage had hosted the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and other major national acts. L.J. bought the building shortly after it was condemned and worked tirelessly with a team of music lovers to refurbish the deteriorated space. And as he took a look around, down the Pleasant Street strip toward the Westover Bridge and up to its intersections with Chestnut and High, he began to realize a vision for the area. “The area always had a tie-in with local neighborhoods close to downtown, and I felt we were losing that to a certain extent,” he says. “I felt that if businesses were creating attractions for people to come downtown to patronize, we could hold on to that. Places with a community feel, as opposed to the feeling when you go north of Walnut Street where it is a little heavier on the student vibe.” We’ve written about that disconnect before in a 2014 story titled “Wishlist.” It’s the idea of two downtowns. One is the playground for young minds heading to college, the place they blow off steam after a long week of studying and school. The second, in the area of downtown that sits south of Walnut Street, is a haven for locals. A place where young professionals, families, locals, and yes, even some students, can gather for a more low-key night of food, drink, and fun. “South of Walnut there’s a dynamic where all those things start to merge together for the good,” L.J. says. “I wanted to do my part to preserve that. We have great neighbors across the street, great neighbors up MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

THIS MATTERS

written and photographed by KATIE GRIFFITH

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

Real Juice Bar and Café sits on Pleasant Street.

CARLA WITT FORD

the street, and it’s sort of falling in that line where those businesses are not so student-centric. Students patronize all these business, but all the businesses down here are mindful to stay attractive to young families and homeowners in the area.” The establishments that make up this scene are solid: Apothecary Ale House, Morgantown Brewing Company, Black Bear Burritos, 123 Pleasant Street, of course, and more recently Iron Horse Tavern and Tin 202. After L.J.’s first foray into Pleasant Street real estate in the ’90s, he began to look for other opportunities. Or, rather, they found him. An opportunity to purchase 131 and 137 Pleasant Street up the hill, formerly Adventure’s Edge and the local Army store, came up around the same time the owner of 119 Pleasant Street down the hill approached L.J. about buying. Both buildings needed a lot of work but, with commercial and apartment spaces, there was plenty of potential. There’s no doubt L.J. could have filled the spots with just about anything. But making money, he says, has never been his intention and he waited for just the right tenants to add to the growth of his neighborhood-oriented vibe. “The more outlets we can create for community-driven people the better for the community, and it makes sense businesswise as well,” he says. “I never looked to get rich by having this venue, and after 17 years I haven’t, but if it can serve as cultural things then I feel like I’m getting something out of it.” He found his tenants in the Real Juice Bar, a lunch and breakfast favorite for locals and university professors, and in the recent Mountain People’s Co-Op move to Pleasant Street. “As far as a business decision, there are certainly other things I could have done with the storefronts and the buildings that might have made a little more money or whatever,” he says. “But I looked at it also as philanthropy, which can come in different forms.” His form is making sound business judgments while assisting local businesses and giving them the opportunity to exist downtown. “The co-op wanted to maintain a business downtown, and that was important for me to hear,” L.J. says. “They were at their old location for 40 years. If we can preserve that and keep them here another 40 years, I can feel good about that.”

THIS MATTERS CELEBRATETHIS

Fairmont Feasts on Heritage A tribute to Italian heritage celebrates its 10th year.

➼ DOWNTOWN FAIRMONT’S 10TH annual Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival will be bigger and more mouth-watering than ever this year. On Saturday, December 12, the Marion County Convention & Visitors Bureau and Main Street Fairmont are partnering to host the unique outdoor celebration of a Catholic-Italian family tradition that, in Appalachia, dates to the early 1900s. In Italy the feast began with the celebration of Catholic mass and the preparation of fish entrees on Christmas Eve. “North Central West Virginia’s Italian-American families seemed to gravitate to the tradition, but what’s really interesting is it seemed to spread beyond Italian households,” says Shannon Tinnell. Shannon and her husband Robert, creators and chairs of the Fairmont festival, published their Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel The Feast of the Seven Fishes in 2005 and are proud their event has grown while maintaining a sense of intimacy and authenticity. “Plenty of nonItalians visited homes where the feast is celebrated and have developed their own appreciation for the food and celebration.” One of the few outdoor street fairs held in December, the festival usually attracts anywhere from 3,000 to 8,000 people and is becoming a destination weekend, according to event planner Jackie Fitch. “We try to keep the festival true to Italian heritage with the food,” Jackie says. “I know a couple of ladies who come from Pittsburgh just for the cooking school.” Festivities begin at 6 p.m. Friday night with cooking school in the Elks Lodge at 419 Adams Street, where a $35 ticket includes lessons on preparing fish dishes at home, a glass of wine, and eight different samples of seafood meals like cured salmon and shrimp pasta. 24

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

Pick up a copy of the 10th anniversary Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival cookbook at cooking school or the Main Street booth. Wish vintage Santa and Mrs. Claus a Merry Christmas as you snack on Italian cookies and browse the vendors lining Adams Street and Monroe Street from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Visitors can also enjoy Italian seafood meals, art, and crafts from 40 different street vendors on Monroe Street. Adults can participate in

wine tasting contests while listening to local musicians like Ben Defazio, Sam Manna, and accordion player Ott Meale. The Fairmont Christmas Parade will start at 5 p.m. right after the feast. “Come hungry and ready to have a good time,” Jackie says. “See lots of friends, enjoy the Italian heritage, and do some Christmas shopping.” written by JENNIFER SKINNER photographed by CARLA WITT FORD

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

THIS MATTERS SHOPTHIS

Give Local

Check out a few of our favorites for local gift-giving this holiday season.

Wine cooler, $65

Beautiful and functional, this ceramic wine cooler by Brian Van Nostrand is great for the connoisseur on your list. Appalachian Gallery 270 Walnut Street 304.296.0163 wvcraft.com

Fun mugs, $28+

Give the gift of warm beverages all season long with these colorful mugs by Kurt Teeter. Zenclay Pottery Studio, 2862 University Avenue, 304.599.7687 zenclaypottery.com

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

THIS MATTERS

Wood paintings, $40 each

These 16x16-inch Coco & June wood paintings are great for the Mountaineers in your life. Each is hand made by Morgantown local Emily Kurth. The Elegant Alley Cat, 358 High Street 304.292.4433, elegantalleycat.com

Ceramic candles, $32 each

Warmth, light, and a lovely scent make these 12.5-ounce soy wax candles by Paddywax great home gifts. Try the jasmine and bamboo or passionfruit and guava The Elegant Alley Cat, 358 High Street 304.292.4433, elegantalleycat.com

MORGANTOWN â&#x20AC;˘ DEC/JAN 2016

THIS MATTERS

Gold and blue scarf, $29 Keep any Mountaineer fan warm with this elegant infinity scarf by Rising Tide. The Elegant Alley Cat, 358 High Street, 304.292.4433 elegantalleycat.com

Football snapshots, $34.99

This stunning coffee table book recently released by WVU Press shows fans another look at Mountaineer game day pride. Great for all football fans. wvupressonline.com

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

THIS MATTERS

Framed minerals, $325

For the decorator in your life, try the framed pieces offered at Silver Pennies. This labradorite is framed in aged poplar and sealed between two pieces of glass. Size is 2x11.25x13. Silver Pennies Jewelry Design Co., 310 High Street 304.292.3237

Coppenrath cookies, $4.99 These sweet treats make great stocking stuffers for all ages. Slight Indulgence, 3200 Collins Ferry Road, 304.599.3402 slightindulgence.com

Dunhill cigars, $23.99

Cigars might be just what the celebration calls for when the ball drops to ring in the New Year. Slight Indulgence, 3200 Collins Ferry Road 304.599.3402, slightindulgence.com

Holiday Cheer Tea, $10.99 Drink in the holidays with this Downton Abbey-themed tea by The Republic of Tea. Slight Indulgence, 3200 Collins Ferry Road, 304.599.3402 slightindulgence.com

White Brazilian geode bookend set, $149 Bring the outdoors in and add a touch of sparkle to any room with these glittering bookends. A perfect gift for the rock-collecting-kid-at-heart. Silver Pennies Jewelry Design Co., 310 High Street 304.292.3237 30

MORGANTOWN â&#x20AC;˘ DEC/JAN 2016

THIS MATTERS

Labradorite and turquoise necklaces, $65-$155

Sold seperately or as a set, these delicate gold-filled chains are begging to add the final dazzel to a holiday outfit. Silver Pennies Jewelry Design Co., 310 High Street 304.292.3237

Woodcrafty necklace and earrings, $48 each

Natural, recycled, and handmade, Jon Pitt’s jewelry is sold in stores across Morgantown, including Terra Cafe, Real Juice Bar, and Pathfinder. Each piece is unique and made in Morgantown. treemefreely.com

Men’s and women’s bracelets, $35-65

For the gentlemen in your life, choose 1943 steel penny leather bracelets. Ladies will love the customizable options perfect for friend groups and sisters alike. Silver Pennies Jewelry Design Co., 310 High Street, 304.292.3237

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

THIS MATTERS

Cord organizers, $5 each

Handmade leather cord organizers by local favorite Tanner’s Alley make great stocking stuffers for the techie in your life. Tanner's Alley, 416 High Street, 304.292.0707 tannersalleyleather.com

Messenger bag, $625

Graduates, professionals, and professors will love this messenger bag by Tanner’s Alley’s Charlie McEwuen. This one’s a Morgantown trademark. Tanner’s Alley, 416 High Street 304.292.0707, tannersalleyleather.com

Femme Metalé handbag, $285

Fashionistas, take notice: No one else will have this handmade arm candy this holiday season. This handbag was designed and constructed by leather artist Charlie McEwuen. Tanner’s Alley, 416 High Street, 304.292.0707 tannersalleyleather.com

Book weight, $20

Cooks, professors, or all-around book lovers will thrill at this handmade leather book weight, great for keeping those hardto-handle classics open to the right page. Tanner’s Alley, 416 High Street 304.292.0707, tannersalleyleather.com

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

THIS MATTERS

A Living Museum WHAT’STHIS

Shop, dine, and go back in time at the Seneca Center. ➼ SHOPPERS AND STORE OWNERS know the Seneca Center by its current variety of vendors and office spaces, but the building’s iconic brick chimney, giant red water tank, and creaky wooden floors record the history of one of the nation’s largest producers of drinking glasses. Seneca Glass Company manufactured crystal tumblers and hand-blown glass 34

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

in Morgantown from 1896 until the company closed in 1985, when the Seneca Glass factory was listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Today, two dozen local businesses call the Seneca Center home, including Country Roads Quilt Shop, The Finery, The Tea Shoppe, and Morgantown Running. “Almost all of them are like me.

They like antiques,” says Jerry Hall, who has co-owned the building for 15 years. Shoppers are taken back in time with one lap around the Seneca Center, adorned with wall paintings of parents and children working in the factory and preserved artifacts such as a glass scale and a phone booth on the ground floor. Since Jerry has owned the building, the Seneca Center has gotten all new roofs, a new walking bridge, new drains, and updated patios. “We’re constantly remodeling and maintaining to keep it up,” he says. Why put so much work into an old building when some may suggest rebuilding the whole place? “It’s very, very rare,” Jerry says. “It’s not something that most people like to invest in. You’ve got to like this type of structure, this building, this history.” The charming 100-foot chimney was built in the mid 1890s, and was the last in the country of its size—until a malevolent lightning burst struck its top section down as this magazine was going to press.

Carol Ramsburg, owner and founder of The Finery, opened in 1986, credits the building’s comfortable atmosphere to its high 709 Beechurst ceilings and the natural light that shines into senecacenter.com her store from windows in the front and the back. “There’s this openness that gives you a sense of freedom, and yet it’s warm and cozy,” Carol says. “I’ve often thought that if we were anywhere else, we might not have survived.” Recently, Michelle Eichelberger opened her new shop and project studio, Rust and Junk Rehab, in the Seneca Center. “It has an artist’s feel to it,” Michelle says. “The atmosphere of the Seneca Center reflects what I do—repurposing or refurbishing something old and making it new and current for others to enjoy without losing its original appeal.” But Michelle’s connection to the building is strengthened from the knowledge that her great-grandfather was a Seneca glassworker in the 1920s and ’30s. “It’s a bond with a man I never knew,” she says. “I walk the same hallways of a building that he came to work in every day.” The Seneca Center will continue to be exactly what it is now— “ancient,” according to Jerry, although it will see the addition of a restaurant and more renovations in its future. The Seneca Center

written by jennifer skinner photographed by carla witt ford and katie griffith MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

THIS MATTERS CONSIDERTHIS

What Students Bring Have you considered the average economic impact of a WVU student? data compiled by Eric Bowen, WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research

Morgantown wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be the same without its students. The influx of about 30,000 young minds into town each year means a lot of things for this community, both good and bad. Despite crowding roads and parking lots, students certainly play a positive role in the economy of this town. But what is their average real impact? The WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research breaks it down.

Tuition Total Economic Impact

The impact of every dollar initially spent in each of these categories multiplies as the dollar is spent again throughout the economy.

Cost to Average Student

$23,029

& Supp ks

s lie

Bo o

$12,494

Total Economic Impact Cost to Average Student

m oo

$1,396

& Boa rd

$1,100

Total Economic Impact Cost to Average Student

$7,624

sportatio n

LET'S GO

$10,922

Total Economic Impact

Total Cost to Average Student

$23,613

Economic Impact

$39,079 38

MORGANTOWN â&#x20AC;˘ DEC/JAN 2016

Cost to Average Student

$1,450

$2,260

O t her

Total Economic Impact Cost to Average Student

$945

$1,473

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

THIS MATTERS VISITTHIS

Discover Morgantown’s Past Museums across town honor our heritage and history. ➼ A CITY OF BOTH rooted traditions and modern influences, Morgantown has a story that begs to be told. Museums all over town preserve yesterday’s artifacts and promote today’s artistic creations. In one stroll downtown, visitors can explore the Morgantown History Museum, the Monongalia Arts Center, and Arts Monongahela, all showcasing local stories and talent, and just across town on WVU’s Evansdale and Medical campuses sit museums that tell of the area’s mining and petroleum history, host a collection of art displayed together for the first time, and serve as a haven for football fans. The farther you explore, the more there is to learn and to see.

Children’s Discovery Museum of West Virginia At the Children’s Discovery Museum of West Virginia, babies as young as 6 months and kids up to 10 years can explore interactive stations that range from engineering to painting. Coming up on its fifth year in 2016, the museum provides hands-on experiences for kids to test their microscope 40

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

1 skills in a nanoscience exhibit, learn about plasma blasts and space magnets in a space weather exhibit, discover the importance of exercise and a balanced diet in a personal health exhibit, and get crafty with puppets and felt in the imagination station. The museum hosts special holiday events like Thanksgiving and Christmas crafts as well as birthday parties for children of all ages. Mountaineer Mall, Suite G12 5000 Greenbag Road, 304.292.4646 thefunfactory.org Morgantown Glass Museum Open by appointment only, the Morgantown Glass Museum is owned by

Kurt Ly, a private collector of 20th century glassware made in Morgantown. Kurt has three collections: Morgantown Glass, Gentile Glass, and Seneca Glass. The Gentile glass collection, in particular, celebrates a hardworking family of three who produced one-of-a-kind glass and paper weights in their Morgantown factory. The Morgantown Glass Museum also features goblets, tumblers, and bowls made by the Seneca Glass Company’s Morgantown headquarters at the Seneca Center (page 34). The museum boasts more than 5,000 pieces of unique antique glass. 1628 Mileground Road, 304.685.5760 morgantownglassmuseum.com

KATIE GRIFFITH

1 Morgantown History Museum Morgantown’s first city-sponsored museum opened in 2011 and has welcomed exhibits detailing everything from a West Virginia couple’s journey on the Titanic to a history of flying attractions at the Morgantown Municipal Airport to a collection of grainy black and white photographs depicting the suspension and steel truss bridges that carried Morgantown residents over the Monongahela River. In summer 2015 the museum introduced its George B. Evans exhibit, a tribute to the pop artist who also contributed to the Old Hemlock Foundation of Bruceton Mills. 175 Kirk Street, 304.319.1800 morgantownhistorymuseum.org

KATIE GRIFFITH; BRIAN PERSINGER, WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY; CARLA WITT FORD

2 Monongalia Arts Center In addition to offering classes in theatre, photography, writing, singing, and other arts, the Monongalia Arts Center houses art galleries with rotating exhibits. The 36-yearold Benedum Gallery was the first commercial gallery in Morgantown and has hosted hundreds of exhibitions featuring artists both local and international and everything from paintings to electronic media to sculptures. The Mon Arts Center is also home to the Robert M. Davis Gallery, where WVU students and Morgantown residents can enter their own work to be displayed. Check out the holiday show and sale in December and January. 107 High Street, 304.292.3325 monartscenter.com 3 Royce J. and Caroline B. Watts Museum On the ground floor in West Virginia University’s Mineral Resource Building is the Royce J. and Caroline B. Watts Museum, an exhibition of almost a century of West Virginia’s mining and petroleum history. Its mission is to promote the history of the coal, oil, and natural gas industries in the state and preserve 20th century artifacts used in mines, such as rescue equipment, lamps, and cages for canaries taken into mines with workers. WVU Mineral Resources Building 401 Evansdale Drive, 304.293.4609 wattsmuseum.wvu.edu 4 Art Museum of WVU The new art museum located near WVU’s Creative Arts Center opened in August and is already providing innovative opportunities for art education in Morgantown. The museum’s collection of more than 3,000 pieces includes international work from Africa and Asia and local work from West Virginia and the Appalachian region, as well as paintings and sculptures, all housed together for the first time in a 5,400-square-foot location. Two Fine Arts Drive, 304.293.2141 artmuseum.wvu.edu

THIS MATTERS

Donald J. Brohard Hall of Traditions Before heading into Milan Puskar Stadium on game day, stop by the Donald J. Brohard Hall of Traditions to experience Mountaineer football history. Interactive displays place you in the ultimate fan experience with footage of the Mountaineer Marching Band, the Mountaineer mascot, and the football program dating back to 1891. The museum’s walls are decorated with everything from bowl game trophies to a timeline of WVU

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

5 West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Mini-Museum Millions of years of natural mountain, rock, and river development in the Mountain State add up to a showcase of geological specimens and fossils found in the Museum of Geology and Natural History. Check out the state’s most complete dinosaur skeleton, the Edmontosaurus uncovered in 2003, as well as life-size replicas of powerful predators like Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex and large herbivores like Stegosaurus and Triceratops. View 2 million-year-old fossils like mammoth teeth, sloth claws, and tracks belonging to reptilian pre-dinosaurs or sparkly minerals and rocks like calcite and quartz found in West Virginia. 1 Mont Chateau Road, 304.594.2331 wvgs.wvnet.edu 6 Cook-Hayman Pharmacy Museum Discover the history of pharmaceuticals in the WVU School of Pharmacy’s CookHayman Pharmacy Museum. Herbal and chemical prescriptions, scales used for measuring doses of medicine, and mortars and pestles are among the many exhibits in the museum, where hardwood floors and oak cabinets take you to a time when we still called pharmacies “apothecaries.” View classic antique show globes, glass bulbs filled with colored liquids used to signal to passersby that a store was a pharmacy, and pictures and business records held in the School of Pharmacy, now more than 100 years old. WVU School of Pharmacy 5706 Medical Center Drive 304.293.5101, pharmacy.hsc.wvu 7 Arts Monongahela Morgantown’s first arts council, Arts Monongahela represents all areas of art—visual, literary, and musical. The gallery displays community creations, provides various art classes, and serves as an intimate venue for local performing acts. Visit in evenings for poetry nights, jazz ensembles, finger painting for kids, and rotating art exhibits. 201 High Street, Suite 3 304.291.6720, artsmon.org written by jennifer skinner

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

CARLA WITT FORD; ELIZABETH ROTH; KATIE GRIFFITH

football helmets, championship rings, and football jerseys worn by legends. 1 Ira Errett Rodgers Drive, wvusports.com

THIS MATTERS THISMATTERS TO

John Sonnenday

The plan First we identify those who are most vulnerable: the chronically homeless, the veterans. We find housing for them by working with local landlords, securing financial assistance like social security or disability insurance, and helping get them regular incomes. We have case workers for each person to get them counseling, addiction services, medications, and financial counseling. It’s all about setting up support systems that will help them stabilize their lives and stay housed.

➼ AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF the

Coordinating Council on Homelessness in Monongalia County, John Sonnenday is too humble to be likened to a knight in shining armor. But his efforts to stem homelessness around Morgantown are helping save lives, and that’s heroic enough. “My concern for the folks who live on the margins has been a lifelong one,” he says. What started with his inner-city ministry work as a teenager and continued with his HIV support work as an adult has become a passion for helping the most vulnerable members of society. And it’s taught him that addressing many societal problems—from drugs to violence—must start in the home. The problem? Not everyone has a home. The solution? Find them homes.

Outcomes In January 2012 the number of homeless in the Morgantown area was 124, according to our annual face-to-face count. In October 2015 that number was only 65. Having our service organizations working in concert makes all the difference. The main issues at this point are still finding adequate housing and having the funds we need to help people in the transition. It takes anywhere from $500 to $1,000 to put someone with no resources in an apartment. Some of it can come from government grants, but some has to be raised locally.

written by mikenna pierotti photographed by carla witt ford

Who are the homeless in Monongalia County? More than half of people experiencing homelessness in Monongalia County have connections with this area. They came because they have family here or they used to live here and thought they could get jobs here. They also come because we have excellent services that other areas simply don’t have, like shelter, food, clothing, medical care.

On getting organized Our community has had many fine service organizations. But despite their best efforts for many years, the number of homeless was not going down. In 2010 the Morgantown City Council and Monongalia County Commission decided we needed a community-wide plan that would bring these organizations together so everyone is focusing on the same things but not duplicating services. They created a task force on homelessness to gather data, find the gaps in services, and come up with a plan. In 2014 the Coordinating Council on Homelessness took over implementing the plan. My role is to bring together all of these elements and groups.

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

On the right attitude The thing that keeps me positive is getting to know these people and realizing how much alike we all are. And seeing the incredible response of our community, the city, the county, private citizens, merchants—everyone being so eager to help. That’s why we’ve had such success.

BEST THE

ANTOW G R O N

CAST YOUR VOTE NOW AT MORGANTOWNMAG.COM/BOM

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

DISH IT OUT

A Deep Dive Table 9 melds contemporary new American cuisine with unique libations in the Wharf District. MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

DISH IT OUT

able 9 was born on November 1—the Day of the Dead. At least that’s what owner and Chef Mark Tasker considers his first official day of operation. And this restaurant’s inauspicious birth date wasn’t the only dark cloud in the sky that year. “This was 2013, during the recession, and everywhere else had dried up,” Mark says. But not Morgantown. “It was an up-andcoming city then, and thankfully it still is.” Set back from the road along the rail-trail, Table 9 serves high-end beer and spirits

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

alongside contemporary new American cuisine. It’s become a go-to for everyone from hungry WVU students seeking avocado eggs benedict on weekends to river boaters hankering for Gin Blossoms— cocktails made with gin, St. Germain, and house-made concord grape shrub. Overlooking the calm waters of the Monongahela River, the long brick- and glass-sided building, with its graceful steel tower, arched roof, and wide deck, looks more like a ship tossed ashore than a dining establishment. But you’re just as likely to see the university rowing team in

Mark Tasker, sweat pants and sweaters grabbing a bite for lunch at chef and owner at Table 9, Table 9 as a pair of lawyers challenges in heels and pinstripes customers’ palates. sharing a bottle of wine at the bar, and that’s likely connected to the general feel of the place: urban and clean with high ceilings and warm woods, yet intimate and approachable with chalkboard walls, potted plants, and local art on the walls. Table 9 somehow straddles the line between neighborhood bar and foodie destination. “The building is very industrial, which I feel is good for my

DISH IT OUT

Kate Lewis, general manager and cocktail artist, offers a Table 9 cocktail secret.

Cocktail Artist and General Manager

Kate Lewis m ixes it u p

THE BOHEMIAN Absinthe to coat champagne coupe 1.5 oz vodka .5 oz triple sec such as Cointreau .5 homemade grenadine 1/2 an orange, juiced 1. Coat the inside of a champagne coupe with absinthe. 2. Shake vodka, triple sec, orange juice, and grenadine together with ice and strain into the coupe. 3. Garnish with orange peel and brandied cherry. Serve immediately. Yield: one drink

food. It’s minimalist and raw. It isn’t fussy. I don’t like fussy food, so that goes hand in hand.” Mark also provides space along the building’s open walls for local artists to display their work, adding a touch of color to the industrial feel. “It’s all for sale,” he says of the art. “These artists can throw their work up there for free, and a lot of it sells.” At different times of the year, you’ll find different menus. Mark says working closely with local producers like Green Acres Farm & Greenhouses in Rock Cave means everything written on his chalkboard wall—the most up-to-date specials menu you’ll find in the house—remains fresh and

seasonal. He loves the challenge of working with seasonal foods. And Morgantown diners have learned to look forward to Mark’s creations. “I try to do things other restaurants don’t or won’t do. It might be using different meats, like foie gras, or hanger steaks, or different vegetables—stuff people aren’t used to,” he says. “We’ve found that even if people are hesitant to try it, we can sell it. As long as we put it on the board, people have come to trust us.” But Mark says he knew it was a risk when he opened. Two years ago few in Morgantown would have opened a restaurant featuring high-end cuisine MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

DISH IT OUT

and artistic libations on the Wharf, not to mention several restaurants had tried the space before and failed. “I thought I could be a pioneer here,” Mark says. “That I could bring a new style of cooking to a place where there wasn’t a lot at that level going on.” Mark has a history of diving in headfirst. “Throughout high school, all I wanted to do was go to art school. But my mom finally told me one day when I was in 12th grade, ‘I’m not paying for you to 50

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

become a starving artist,’” River views and uniquely plated he laughs. “That crushed seasonal dishes my dreams a little.” But are part of the not for long. “I had a friend experience. who was working in a restaurant in Deep Creek nearby. I started working there after graduation and, six months later, I was sous chef.” At 21 he moved to San Diego, California, went to culinary school, worked at several restaurants, and helped open a few himself.

“That’s where I found my style, which I consider contemporary new American—cooking with local ingredients, pairing multicultural dishes and drinks, experimenting with unique flavors,” he says. “America is a big melting pot. The food should be, too.” From California he bounced around: Maryland to Washington, D.C., to New York City. He found he couldn’t get enough. The restaurant business was addictive. “Food is so much like art, and I found I was actually really good at it. Being a chef gave me the same sense of fulfillment that art had.” So when Mark’s wife got a job offer at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, he took a chance and jumped into the deep end. He hired Kate Lewis, then a bar manager and now general manager and cocktail artist, and created a restaurant with high aspirations and a laidback atmosphere. Even with a great idea and great staff, opening a restaurant in the winter was a struggle. “I’d spent all my money and I couldn’t afford to advertise much,” Mark says. “But after a couple months, I didn’t need to. The food spoke for itself. By the time spring and summer came and people realized we had the nicest deck in the city, it got better and better. And it’s gotten better every month since.” This waterside eatery might seem a little out of place at first glance, moored along the river and surrounded by looming office buildings. But it grows on you quickly, especially on a temperate evening with the boats drifting on the water, live music echoing from nearby Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park, and a fun cocktail in hand. On such a night, you can dine on the deck and order dishes like tuna tartare, prepared with soy sauce, sriracha, scallions, and wasabi aioli. A wintry Sunday morning is perfect for brunch. Watch the ice drift on the river from the warm, spacious dining room and enjoy fried chicken and waffles drizzled in bourbon maple syrup. The flavor combinations are unusual— like fish tacos with fennel slaw, bone marrow, and arugula, or grilled cheese with sweet corn chowder—but Mark asks you to go with it. After all, this restaurant is the culmination of a lifelong dream. “Lots of places try to do what sells well and don’t necessarily sell what they’re good at. I only want to do what I’m good at, and that’s what I want to share with everyone.” table9.com written by mikenna pierotti photographed by carla witt ford

Whether it’s Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or someone’s birthday . . . The Cupcakerie is perfect for every occassion! We deliver! thecupcakerie.com 194 Willey Street • 304.212.5464 orders@thecupcakerie.com

ROAD RAGE

SAFETY AND HEALTH Sidewalks are important—not only for small-town charm but for safety, livability, and especially health. “Long ago, public health was mostly about wagging the finger,” says Christiaan Abildso, assistant professor in WVU’s School of Public Health and onetime chairman of the city’s volunteer Pedestrian Safety Board (PSB). “If you didn’t walk it was because you chose not to.” But research has made it clear that people often do choose to walk—if their city is walkable. That is, cities can enable healthy choices. “From providing access to grocery stores in food deserts to building sidewalks, the idea is to make the default choice the healthy choice,” Christiaan says. “Especially for trips that are like a mile, mile and a half—that 20-, 30-minute walk, that’s perfect for a day’s exercise.”

Walk of Shame

City leaders could earn both traffic and health love from residents by fixing the sidewalks.

bout three pedestrians have been hit by cars in Morgantown every month in recent years. It could be because people aren’t bothering to walk where they should, but there’s a good chance it’s because there isn’t a good sidewalk—or any sidewalk at all. Morgantown residents like to walk. In 2000, the state Department of Highways reported almost 17 percent of residents walk to work, compared with 2.5 percent 52

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

statewide. In 2008, Prevention magazine named Morgantown 34th best city in the nation for walking. By 2012, more than 18 percent of residents were walking to work, according to the U.S. Census Bureau— 12th among U.S. cities with fewer than 100,000 people. All this walking, in spite of spotty support for it: When the city did a wholecity sidewalk inventory in 2010, only about half of properties had sidewalks, says City Engineer Damien Davis. And only about

half of those were in good condition. The one-time realm of hopscotch chalk, dimes lost during lemonade transactions, and neighborly conversations seems to have lost ground. Christiaan Abildso, assistant professor in WVU’s School of Public Health and one-time chairman of the city’s volunteer Pedestrian Safety Board (PSB), headed the creation of a 2010 Pedestrian Safety Plan that reviewed the city’s original 1967 sidewalk ordinance and a 1979 amendment. The review found the paving of streets and construction of new homes are supposed to kick in a requirement for building and repairing sidewalks—but waivers had been used liberally by the city, leaving many sidewalk gaps and stretches of disrepair. A provision placing responsibility for sidewalk condition on property owners was and is similarly unenforced. To complete and refurbish the city’s sidewalk network, the PSB proposed in its 2010 plan a fee of $1 per foot of frontage—perhaps $60 or $80 for the typical residential property—per year, Christiaan says. The funds would have addressed sidewalks and other pedestrian

ROAD RAGE

SHOVEL IT! Property owners are required by city code to clear snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their property within 24 hours of a snow event. If you are physically unable to clear your sidewalk and have no friend or family member who can help, call Code Enforcement at 304.284.7401.

With no ramp at the end of this sidewalk, this man takes his chances on the street.

amenities like crosswalks and lighting. That proposal met with a cold reception from the community, he remembers. And so the sidewalks have continued to deteriorate. The PSB still seeks a funding mechanism, as well as enforcement of city code related to sidewalks, says current Pedestrian Safety Board Chairman Matthew Cross, who grew up in Suncrest in the 1960s and ’70s and walked to school every year. Short of those things, Matthew does see positive movement:

REESE HANSEN

» City Council designated $100,000 of the 2015-16 street paving budget for sidewalks, according to Damien. It’s the first money dedicated to sidewalks in several years, he says, and it will reconstruct about 1,000 linear feet of fivefoot-wide sidewalk. “We are currently seeking funding mechanisms such as matching grants,” Matthew says. “The new service fee will help.” » New residence halls within walking distance of campuses—most recently, more than 2,000 beds at the new University Park and University Place.

“Our university population is of a global nature. Many of these kids from other countries already have a mindset for walking and they’re bringing that forth into the university culture. It’s really great to see.”

in, Stantec, did a great job of pointing out options for enhancing the viewshed and development for pedestrian and bicycle capacities, and we hope some of these options will be implemented.”

» Concurrent signals. “That’s when a light turns green for traffic and the pedestrian automatically has a walk signal at the same time—as opposed to exclusive signals, where the pedestrian hits the button and it shuts everybody down. Concurrent systems are supposed to be coming online for downtown, so we’re getting more efficient in our cooperation between pedestrians and vehicles.”

» The PSB’s new voting position with the Traffic Commission. “It meets once a month and we talk about all transportation modes within Morgantown, and my focus is on pedestrian accommodations.”

» Summer 2015 study of the University Avenue corridor. “Many of us from the Pedestrian Safety Board were involved. The idea is to enhance the corridor to attract kids to walk from the Evansdale campus to the downtown campus. I walked that route this summer. It took me 30 minutes from the Mountainlair to Oakland Street, by McDonald’s, and it offers a beautiful view of the river valley below. The engineering group that came

The Pedestrian Safety Board meets the first Monday of the month at 4:30 p.m. at the Public Safety Building at Walnut and Spruce streets. Residents can attend to present concerns; those with more interest can approach the board for membership. Residents can also make sidewalk repair and other requests of the city at com3. govtsystems.com/MorgantownWV/ Request/. written by PAM KASEY photographed by KATIE GRIFFITH

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

ACROSS COUNTY LINES

A Highland Retreat

Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, boasts amenities that would have you forget the sweet summons of country roads. At least for a while. 56

MORGANTOWN â&#x20AC;˘ DEC/JAN 2016

COURTESY OF NEMACOLIN WOODLANDS RESORT (3)

ACROSS COUNTY LINES

he labyrinthine Nemacolin Woodlands Resort sits pretty as a picture in the sprawling Laurel Highlands of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Cozy yet elegant; expansive yet intimate; rustic has rarely felt quite so refined. The sparkling chandeliers and the plush textiles of its perfectly appointed sitting rooms beckon you to lay claim to a tiny corner of this updated hunting lodge and never let go. And, despite a high season head count of nearly 1,000 guests, there are plenty of nooks to go around, boasting more activities than can possibly

be enjoyed in one weekend. Nemacolin lies 50 minutes northeast of Morgantown on a stretch of road that takes visitors past plenty of excuses to visit the area: Fort Necessity, which witnessed the opening action of the French and Indian War, and Laurel Caverns, a breathtaking commercial cave famous for its tours. Frank Lloyd Wrightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fallingwater and outdoor haven Ohiopyle are just a jaunt farther north. But after stepping onto the 2,000-acre resort property, you might find little reason to leave. Holidays at Nemacolin are known for their sinfully indulgent buffets, and

winter turns the resort into a playground with a spa, a zoo, a shooting range, a casino, galleries, museums, shops, and restaurants to suit all tastes. The Forbes Five-Star and AAA FiveDiamond resort began in 1987 as a hobby resort for owner Joe Hardy, founder and CEO of 84 Lumber. He reportedly purchased the property on a whim to please his daughter, Maggie Hardy Magerko, who now runs the lumber company and the resort. Since then, the resort has had multiple expansions and revamps, adding golf courses, hundreds of rooms, a field club, wildlife habitats, and more. MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

ACROSS COUNTY LINES Mystic Mountain at Nemacolin offers skiing and snowboarding.

The Hardys, billionaires thanks to 84 Lumber, have reportedly invested much of their personal wealth in the resort, and it shows. While there’s probably enough to keep you occupied for a week, most opt to stay a night or two—or just visit for the day—in which case we’ve compiled a list of the top five must-try activities at Nemacolin for your winter enjoyment.

Adults and children alike enjoy the dog sledding available in winter months.

Mystic Mountain, the Nemacolin skiing and snowboarding paradise, will open for the 2015-16 season on December 25, 2015, weather permitting. The facility offers seven slopes ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced and, with a 300-foot vertical drop, a terrain park, and options for snowshoeing, tubing, and cross-country skiing, there’s plenty to keep snowbirds of all levels having fun. Trail illumination keeps the party going well after sunset, and those with more nerves than skills have a staff of trained instructors available for private lessons.

Wildlife Academy Tours and Dog Sledding Don’t bother with the rush of Pittsburgh traffic if you’re itching to see a tiger. The Nemacolin Wildlife Academy offers an 58

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

COURTESY OF NEMACOLIN WOODLANDS RESORT (2)

Skiing and Snow Sports

ACROSS COUNTY LINES

interactive and educational zoo program with bears, bison, zebra, tigers, wolves, lions, hyenas, and more. Fall and winter are the best seasons to see these animals, which become more active in the cooler months. Smaller exotic and domestic animals such as a two-toed sloth and fennec foxes sit just down the road. Multiple tours and activities to suit all ages are available, from toy-making for the zoo’s big cats to dog sledding in winter. After an introduction to learn the basics of dog sledding, adults and children alike can strap into a sleigh with a team of dogs and glide across the snow at speeds up to 20 miles per hour for an unparalleled view of the Laurel Highlands in all its winter glory.

Tea Lounge While Nemacolin’s interior exudes sophisticated hunting lodge with dark wood paneling, low recessed lighting, and deep reds and greens twined in lush carpeting, the Tea Lounge located just off the main lobby brings a more sophisticated and European air to the lodge. Making the most of natural light pouring from wall-to-wall 10-foot windows, the lounge boasts light colors, simple prints, and a fireplace to lose yourself in. We recommend everything from morning coffee with the paper to evening drinks with friends in the lounge, as you enjoy the beauty of winter’s landscape from indoor warmth. Few walk into the room without first exclaiming, “This is beautiful!” We were no exception.

Dining If you’re visiting just for the day, chances are you’re coming for the food. A range of culinary options await, from EuropeanAmerican fine dining at Lautrec—one of the few restaurants in the world to hold both a AAA Five-Diamond Restaurant rating and a Five-Star Restaurant rating from Forbes Travel Guide, both since 2009—to the annual Christmas Day brunch buffet that brings families flocking from miles away each year. The resort boasts nine restaurants, multiple seasonal offerings, and seven bars and lounges. Around almost every corner of the resort you’re sure to find fare that suits and, with a 25,000-bottle wine cellar, a libation to suit as well.

Woodlands Spa Cross a meandering stream, pull the bronze handle of a gargantuan door, and ease right into the warm lap of luxury. Specializing in everything from hot stone massage to hydrotherapy to facials, the Woodlands Spa has received the Forbes

Four-Star award and was named a Top 100 U.S. Resort Spa in 2013 by the Condé Nast Traveler Spa Poll. A salon and fitness center round out the offerings, leaving visitors nothing but a puddle of relaxation at the end of a visit.

Nemacolin’s Tea Lounge offers an elegant retreat. Visitors have an array of dining options, everything from burgers and fries to five-star meals.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

Art Tour Nemacolin is a veritable museum already, with multiple displays of the Hardy family’s personal collections, from vintage cars in the Woodlands Auto Toy Store to a classic plane collection in the Pride & Joy Airplane Hangar (did we mention you could fly your private plane to the resort’s runway?). Both are only a free shuttle ride away, but you needn’t step far outside your room to discover the resort’s pride and joy: the Hardy family’s $45 million art collection. Boasting nearly 1,000 pieces by artists such as J.J. Audubon, Howard Behrens, Frederic Remington, and Clarice Smith, the collection graces most every corner of the resort. No bland hotel prints here. Get lost in color on a stroll through the resort halls or just head to the dedicated exhibit space near the lobby, where Nemacolin Galleries hosts the talent of local, regional, and international artists through rotating exhibits.

written and photographed by KATIE GRIFFITH

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

The Hardy family’s personal art collection is scattered throughout the resort―and not just in the galleries. Look for some of your favorite artists as you wander the hallways.

the

2016

CHA MBER AWARDS The Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce announces its top business picks for 2016. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not enough to boast the biggest profit margins, the fastest growth, or the most innovative idea to be named a champion of the community by the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce. Businesses and business leaders chosen for the annual chamber awards must show that they give back, care about the people of their town, and advocate for progress. These are professionals, companies, and organizations that know what it means to go above and beyond. The 2016 winners include everything from a big bank doing big things to a new team in town to one of our favorite nonprofits.

wri tten by katie griffi th , zac k harold , and shay maunz

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

who carry out our core values of integrity, hard work, teamwork, and caring every single day,” says Richard Adams, United chairman and CEO. United Bank is older than West Virginia itself. Its roots are in the Northwestern Bank of Virginia, founded in Wheeling in 1817. In the late 1800s that bank split into a couple pieces, in part United Bank wins the Morgantown Area Chamber of because of the Civil War, and by 1935 the bank Commerce 2016 Large Business of the Year award. that went on to become United was one of the largest national banks in West Virginia. Because of its close ties with the state, United has, over the years, come United Bank may be the 2016 Large Business of the Year, to be known as “West Virginia’s Bank,” and the company is but Senior Vice President John Fahey says what makes the committed to active participation in local communities and bank special is that, while it’s large, it’s not too large—it’s a a generous corporate citizenship. “We feel an obligation,” big company, but not too big to be deeply involved with its John says. “No other industry is more important to the customers and with its local community. “We’re small enough economy and communities, especially small communities, to give people an extraordinary amount of attention. We’re across the whole nation than banking is. And we like to lead small enough to customize deals to fit people’s needs,” John in that.” There’s a good chance your local sports team or arts says. “But we’re big enough to have the capital and the ability organization or educational nonprofit has gotten a fundraising to make very large loans, and a small bank can’t do that. We’re a local bank that has enough resources to deal with any kind of boost from United. In just the last year United donated more than $2 million to organizations and causes in the customer, any industry—we feel we’re just the right size.” communities it serves. As the largest bank headquartered in West Virginia, United Beyond dollars, John says United is special because its operates seven offices in Monongalia County and has more employees are such integral parts of their communities. than 150 bankers stationed here. It posts 32 percent of all bank Employees volunteer their services locally, sitting on boards deposits in the greater Morgantown area—meaning that one out and helping out at community events. “Our people are very of every three dollars deposited in the area is deposited through different. They give of their time and they give of their talents,” United Bank. The bank’s parent company, United Bankshares John says. “When someone’s at school picking up their child Incorporated, has more than 1,400 shareholders in Monongalia or they’re going to church or they’re out in their community, I County, and United claims to have delivered increases in think when they see their United banker they see someone who dividends to its shareholders every year for the last 41 years. is approachable and very willing to help them.” —sem “Facts and figures aside, our competitive advantage is our people

A Better Big Bank

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

He left the company after several years to take a position with another large architecture firm, heading up its historic preservation practice, where he began working on train stations—including the historic B&O station in Grafton. That, in turn, led Michael to a job in West Virginia. Although Michael had spent much of his career Mills Group earns the Morgantown Area Chamber working for national architectural firms on projects of Commerce 2016 Small Business of the Year award. all around the country, he felt the move to West Virginia gave him a new opportunity—to do work that made a difference. He founded Mills Group in November Historic preservation has its place, but not every building 2005 with an eye on historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and can, or should, be fixed. Ideally, a modern structure that economic development. “That was the focus of the firm coming preserves the look and feel of its predecessor will take its place. out of the gate,” he says. “There was a need in the state.” Either way, Mills Group can help. The company has worked It wasn’t long before Mills Group was hired by the state to on restoration projects all over the state and also specializes monitor historic preservation grants. The firm still holds that in new construction that preserves local ambiance. These new contract. “Every year it’s anything from 10 to 20 different projects are not cartoony recreations of historic buildings. properties all over the state,” he says. The firm has also “You don’t want to do an exact replica. But you can take done its share of work on those historic treasures, including visual cues and influence from what was there before and projects at the Capitol Theater in Wheeling, the Waitman T. make it work,” says Michael Mills, the firm’s founder and Willie House in Morgantown, the Delmonte Hotel in Elkins, principal architect. and the Veterans Memorial at the State Capitol Complex, to Michael’s interest in preservation started early. He grew up name just a few. in a small town in Vermont filled with historic structures— Business has evolved over the last decade as Michael realized his family even lived in a historic home. Each year his father new construction projects could also benefit from his firm’s would buy another old, broken-down house, and the family commitment to historic preservation. This now makes up would gut the structure, fix it up, and sell it. “That was his half of Mills Group’s projects. Whether restoring an existing hobby that I was pulled into at a very young age,” he says. structure or building something new, the firm doesn’t begin When Michael graduated from college with building thinking about the future until it fully understands the past. science and a bachelor of architecture degrees, he wanted to “We start with diligence and the research,” Michael says. “My make a career working on existing structures. He spent time goal for the firm is that we become a trusted adviser for our in Washington, D.C., working for a firm that had contracts clients. You can’t save everything, so you’ve got to be smart with the National Park Service, and it wasn’t long before about where you invest the money.” —zrh Michael found himself working on the Lincoln Memorial.

COURTESY OF MILLS GROUP

Looking Toward the Future, an Eye to the Past

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

It was no small feat getting the New York-Penn League to announce a Morgantown franchise in 2014. It took a local government and university partnership and a bit of political finagling on the part of the immediate-past WVU athletic director, Oliver Luck, to get both a new, publicly The West Virginia Black Bears claim a championship title funded Monongalia County Ballpark and a minor and the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce 2016 league team to move here from New York. The new team’s management, assisted by WVU sports New Business of the Year award. management graduate students, held a community vote, compiling more than 2,000 nominations and 10,000 final votes to solidify the West Virginia Black Bears as If Morgantown can claim a grand slam, the decision the state’s newest professional team. to build a new ballpark at the top of Granville and bring In the 2016 season, fans can expect more of the same the West Virginia Black Bears into town and was it. The energy that made the baseball games so popular in 2015, when Minor League baseball team’s 2015 inaugural season ended 17 of the games in the Black Bear’s inaugural season were sold with a league championship, a best ballpark award by from out. The team roster will see a large change, with the majority BallparkDigest.com, and a very happy group of local sports of the 2015 Black Bears moving up the Minor League rungs fans filling the 2,500-seat park. to play for the Power in Charleston, and to maintain the town’s “It was everything we expected and then some,” says Black Bears General Manager Matt Dreyer of the team’s first season. connection with its team, despite all new faces, the Black Bears will have to mix things up with more fireworks, heritage food “It was the storybook ending, a script for a good baseball nights, giveaways, and more. “We’ll have new and creative movie. A new team comes in here with no real identity and the ideas. If not, the experience gets old and stale,” Matt says. community embraces us.” But, to be honest, the team wasn’t “Winning the championship and the new business award just that hard to embrace. The Black Bears opened with a splash: shows how wonderfully the people in North Central West game day fireworks, participation in community parades and Virginia have responded to the Black Bears and what a great events, fun promotions and giveaways, and pepperoni roll fan base we have. It was a great feeling to see all these people races. By talking with fans and community partners, Matt and come out time and time again. We’re not the Mountaineers; his management team at the Black Bears quickly learned what we’re something brand new. In other areas it takes a while to makes this community head out in droves to cheer for a team grasp that fan base, and here they really embraced us.” —keg that’s not sporting the old Gold and Blue.

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA BLACK BEARS

A New Team in Town

simpler terms, hunger. “Our goal last year was $120,000, and we raised just over $121,000,” Zacary says. Of that bounty, $100,000 went to local food pantries, soup kitchens, and backpack programs that send the county’s hungry children home Empty Bowls Monongalia has earned the Morgantown Area with packages of food on weekends. “A growing population we’re seeing are food-insecure Chamber of Commerce 2016 Nonprofit of the Year award. children,” Zacary says. “Backpack programs help children who only see food in school.” The money Empty Bowls raised in 2015 supplied four backpack An Empty Bowls fundraiser is as simple as it gets: a bowl programs with just over 38,000 backpacks, in addition to of soup in exchange for a cash donation to fill another’s empty supplying 134,000 meals at feeding programs and serving belly. The idea began as a high school arts project in Michigan in 23,000 needy individuals at food pantries. 1990 and has spread across the country and worldwide, raising In 2013, the organization was also able to fund an endowmillions of dollars to end hunger. In Morgantown, the first ment—the heart of any nonprofit. “An endowment enables us Empty Bowls event was hosted in February 2007 and because to make an impact in this community long after the people on of a homegrown effort of community organizations and church the board are gone,” Zacary says. Empty Bowls Monongalia groups, the fundraiser has become one of Morgantown’s most has no paid employees and its board is completely volunteeranticipated events of the year. based. Last year, 400 volunteers assisted in the luncheon alone, “We’ve grown an awful lot,” says the fundraiser’s board providing a total of 5,000 service hours. “None of the board president, Zacary Tardiff, who joined the nonprofit three or volunteers get any remuneration for what we do,” Zacary years ago as a community outreach coordinator. After says. “We have a great group of people who are very passionthe first event in 2007 raised $5,000, organizers quickly ate about helping our neighbors who are in need. There’s no realized the potential of the fundraiser in Morgantown way we could get to where we are without everyone who has and, a few months later, formed the nonprofit organization donated, served, and volunteered. It’s a community-wide Empty Bowls Monongalia. Since its launch, Empty Bowls effort and that’s extremely important.” Monongalia has dished out hundreds of gallons of soup The 2016 Empty Bowls luncheon will take place February from handmade ceramic bowls donated by local artists and 27 at Mylan Park, where the organization hopes to raise students, raising tens of thousands of dollars for local food $140,000. —keg pantries and organizations combating food insecurity—in

ED GERSON, COURTESY OF EMPTY BOWLS

Feeding the Community with Empty Bowls

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

bright, it’s crazy, it’s fun. We want you to enjoy. We want you to come back.” The story of Sheetz began in 1952, when Bob Sheetz opened his first store in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He opened a second location in 1963, known as “Sheetz Kwik Shopper.” Bob’s brother Steve became the company’s general Sheetz claims the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commanager in 1969, and together the brothers merce 2016 Mid-size Business of the Year Award. began adding more and more stores to the chain. Sheetz now boasts 437 locations across six states, with 52 of those stores in West Virginia. Despite that It’s safe to say many people, many places, don’t have strong exponential growth, the company remains a family business. feelings about their local convenience stores. But those people Bob Sheetz’s son Stan became the company’s president do not know Sheetz. The Pennsylvania-based chain was almost in 1995, and five family members still sit on the executive 50 years old when it opened its first West Virginia locations committee. “They make everyone else feel like family,” in the 1990s. Since that time, the stores have won a dedicated Tarah says. For that reason, many employees have worked for following in the Mountain State. the company for two and three decades—a kind of loyalty Food has a lot to do with chain’s success. In addition to all that’s rare in most service-industry jobs. the usual convenience store accoutrements, Sheetz stores offer Looking to the future, Sheetz plans to continue adding an extensive made-to-order menu. Customers punch in their orders using touch screens and, in just a few minutes, kitchen locations in West Virginia. But Tarah says these new stores will not be cookie-cutter copies of existing Sheetz locations. In staff will whip up anything from a buffalo chicken pizza to a February 2015, the company launched its first fuel-free Sheetz Philly cheesesteak. “We have every option available to you. We store on the ground floor of WVU’s new University Place give you what you want, when you want it, how you want it, apartment complex. The 15,000-square-foot space includes 24/7,” says Sheetz spokeswoman Tarah Arnold. a grocery section, a made-to-order kitchen, and indoor and But it’s more than just food. Tarah says the company’s outdoor seating for 100. The company spent more than two commitment to service has helped win customers’ loyalty. It’s years developing the design, which is three times the size of not uncommon to see the same crowd every single morning, a normal Sheetz location. “This is a completely new concept and kitchen staffers know exactly how Joe likes his biscuit or we’re trying in Morgantown. It’s geared to the millennial. It’s how Susan orders her coffee. “I think it’s a place where people what we’re calling ‘the next generation of Sheetz,’” Tarah says. feel good. It’s a fun environment,” Tarah says. “You don’t “We really are enjoying being in West Virginia and getting to go into a Sheetz store and forget where you are. I think the know what works in West Virginia.” —zrh moment you pull up, you know you’re in for something. It’s

At Your Convenience

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

side, and made it what it is today,” he says. “That was a very satisfying project.” He also developed the Glenmark Center, now known as the Pierpont Centre, the first large-scale shopping project in the Cheat Lake area, which in turn attracted other developers to that part of town. Now he’s working on the new University Park student development near the football stadium. Mark launched his first company in 1984 when he purchased a nursing home in Parkersburg with a partner. “We started the company because we wanted to be able to control our own destiny,” Mark says. “We also felt, at the time, West Virginia didn’t have what I would term modern-day nursing homes. So we wanted to develop those properties and provide that kind of care.” Over the following decades he developed what became the largest nursing home service company in West Virginia: By 1995 it owned almost a third of all the nursing homes in the state. In 1997 when the nursing home company was sold, Mark went on to work his business magic at Glenmark Holdings— between 2000 to 2010, the company grew from $23 million in assets to over $84 million—and to hone his responsible, innovative approach to property development. Mark takes special pride in his role in the creation of Mylan Park, a nonprofit community recreation and education campus. Mark was one of the founding directors of the park in 2000 and served as the park’s board president over the following nine years, which saw tremendous growth. Area Chamber “When I wanted to start Mylan Park and get 300 acres for it, people looked at me like I was absolutely crazy,” he says. “But I think it’s important that we have green space and recreational opportunities for our community, and now all these years later, it’s worked.” As a real estate developer, building new things is his job. But as a Morgantown native, Mark’s planning takes into account community needs in a way that an outsider’s plans might not. “If you go into a community and you don’t know the spirit in the background, you can build a building and be successful but you don’t really know what you’re doing to help, and I think the opportunity to make a mistake is much greater,” he says. “By knowing the community and living in the community all your life, I think you are better able to analyze and determine the projects you want to do.” —sem

A Community Mind

COURTESY OF GLENMARK HOLDING LLC

Mark Nesselroad is honored with the Morgantown of Commerce 2016 Earl L. Core Award. Over six decades, Mark Nesselroad has seen a lot of changes in Morgantown. The city’s grown, expanded, and evolved— we’ve all seen it happen, and can see it happening still. The difference for Mark is that he’s not just watching the city change. In a very real way, he’s making the changes himself. Mark is the founder and CEO of Glenmark Holdings, LLC, which has developed several properties that are key parts of Morgantown’s footprint. He saw the potential in the Wharf District when it was still just a collection of big vacant buildings and helped turn that potential into a reality. “We took an entire city block of effectively vacant buildings, converted them, and worked with the historic renovation

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

COURTESY OF MORGANTOWN HISTORY MUSEUM (2)

Beating Back Wilderness Pioneers had it rough in western Virginia. On top of raw frontier and territorial disputes with natives, by the 1750s the French and Indian War had erupted. These are the challenges the Decker party of 40 settlers faced in 1758 when it built a village at the mouth of what we call Deckers Creek. Details are obscure but, by some accounts, a band of Delaware and Mingo natives attacked in mid-October 1759. They killed many of the squatters and destroyed harvest and homes, along with all chance that our city be named Deckertown. Though King George III promised natives in the Proclamation of 1763 he’d stay east of the Alleghenies, ambitious settlers pressed westward. What it took to advance into that volatile environment was forts—lots of them:

1769 Fort Pierpont near the Cheat River

1770 Fort Cobun at Dorsey’s Knob

1772 Fort Morgan at the present site of Morgantown kirk alley

1772 Fort Dinwiddie north at Stewartstown

1773 Fort Martin north on the Monongahela River

1774 Fort Burris in what is now Suncrest

1774 Fort Kern in today’s Greenmont

Plan of

The imposing presence created by these forts cleared the way for commerce. By 1776, Michael Kern operated a boatyard at the mouth of Deckers Creek and a gristmill in today’s Lower Greenmont. 1781: Zackquill Morgan’s 220 acres surveyed.

1783-84: City lots and streets surveyed.

1785: Morgantown gets charter from Virginia General Assembly.

1795: Old Stone House built on today’s Chestnut Street.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

1800

1750

Morgan’s Town 1785

Infrastructure, education, WVU, beginnings of wealth and style

There to Here

Monongalia County Population 120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

1818: Preston County formed from Monongalia County 1840s: Territory lost to Preston and Marion counties

20,000

1800

17 90 18 00 18 10 18 20 18 30 18 40 18 50 18 60 18 70 18 80 18 90 19 00 19 10 19 20 19 30 19 40 19 50 19 60 19 70 19 80 19 90 20 00 20 10 20 14

1803: Brick school constructed at southeast corner of Spruce and Boundary (now Willey) streets.

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

1814: Monongalia Farmers Company of Virginia, a bank, formed in Morgantown.

1826: First steamboat reaches town.

WVU Builds WVU started building its campus just a few years after it was commissioned in 1867 as the Agricultural College of West Virginia. First came University Hall, in 1870. Now called Martin Hall and home to the Reed College of Media, it stands with Woodburn Hall, built in 1877, and Chitwood Hall, built in 1893, to make up the university’s iconic Woodburn Circle. Other early buildings still standing include the first library, dating to 1902, now the Stewart Hall administration building, and the on-campus residence built for university presidents in 1905, now called Purinton House. In the decades since and right up to the present, WVU has had a strong hand in the building and rebuilding of Morgantown.

At 2,000, the population of Ice′s Ferry on the Cheat River, where iron, bricks, and nails were produced, was several times that of Morgantown in the mid-1800s.

1833: First regularly scheduled stagecoach service through Morgantown: Four-horse stages travel from Uniontown by way of Ice’s Ferry across the Cheat River.

NIKKI BOWMAN

Morgantown wasn’t always so accessible, of course. One 1700s road came northwest from Winchester, Virginia and crossed the Potomac River at Westernport, Maryland. It continued west to cross the Cheat River at Dunkard Bottom, join up with Deckers Creek, and from there wind along to Morgantown on the path of today’s State Route 7. It was a packhorse road and was later upgraded to a wagon road, and pioneers used it to bring supplies from Winchester. The men who built our early roads had to fell trees and grade rocky soil with rough tools. People who traveled them had to ford creeks and rivers and often paid tolls. Roads established in the early 1800s included the Monongalia Glades Road, which ran south out of town via Smithtown to Clarksburg on what is part of today’s State Route 73. The Brandonville & Fishing Creek Turnpike came from the Maryland line by Brandonville, near Bruceton Mills, to cross the Cheat River at Ice’s Ferry and on to Morgantown—the path Interstate 68 follows today. It continued west to the mouth of Fishing Creek at New Martinsville on the Ohio River. A Beverly and Morgantown Turnpike was constructed from the Pennsylvania state line near Fort Martin, crossed the Monongahela River at Collins’ Ferry, on to Evansville east of Grafton and then to Beverly south of Elkins—mainly, today’s State Route 92.

Elmer Forrest Jacobs Few people have contributed as lastingly to the character of downtown Morgantown as architect Elmer Jacobs. After training and working in Pittsburgh, the Preston and Monongalia county native made his career Morgantown starting in the 1890s. He was prolific, and his structures give us a window into a gracious, sometimes opulent past. Here are just a few we still admire today:

KATIE GRIFFITH (4); CARLA WITT FORD; KATIE GRIFFITH

1894 The Farmers and Merchants Bank Building sits at the northwest corner of High and Wall and now houses WCLG.

1898 The Brown Building at the southwest corner of High and Walnut was the tallest building in the county when it was built and now houses Citizens Bank.

1902 The homes at 270 and 276 Walnut Street on the downtown side of the Walnut Street bridge now house the Morgantown Beauty College and the Appalachian Gallery.

1863: State of West Virginia forms.

1906 The Crow-Garlow-Lewin Home, now the Aull Center, sits adjacent to the main public library on Spruce Street.

1867: The Agricultural College of West Virginia established at Morgantown窶馬ow WVU.

1908 The red brick Spruce Street United Methodist Church continues to hold services today.

1886: B&O Railroad reaches Morgantown, followed in 1890 by slack water.

1897: Union Improvement Co. supplies filtered water.

1899: Greenmont incorporated.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

1900

1854: Suspension bridge is built across the Monongahela.

1898 Judge Frank Cox home, on the northwest corner of Spruce and Pleasant, is thought to be one of the best examples of Queen Anne Revival architecture in the city.

Grand downtown institutions, better infrastructure

A South Morgantown trolley crosses Deckers Creek on Bridge Street, now Don Knotts Boulevard.

A Higher High Developers took advantage of the Roaring ’20s to improve High Street. In 1924, local businessmen George and John Comuntzis opened their 1,300-seat Metropolitan Theatre between today’s Fayette and Wall streets. Designed by Wheeling architect C.W. Bates and constructed over two years at a cost of $500,000, the theater was a tribute to New York’s larger Metropolitan Opera House. The vaudeville venue wowed patrons with classical adornments and four 2,700-piece crystal chandeliers imported from Czechoslovakia. The Met was among the first theaters in the country to be air conditioned. Then, in 1925, a coalition of several local business interests opened the eight-story Hotel Morgan a few blocks down High Street. Elegantly appointed, with satin upholstery, crystal chandeliers, and a lavish, high-ceilinged ballroom on the top floor, the hotel was declared “Grand!” by the Morgantown Post. Maybe it was that grandness that led Warner Brothers to site its Art Deco movie house next door. The Warner opened in 1931 with a spectacular 50-foot vertical marquee illuminated with more than 6,000 light bulbs of different colors. With that event, High Street was transformed in less than a decade from a sleepy thoroughfare to a high-class entertainment and lodging destination.

Old Sabraton line track is exposed on Brockway Avenue in 2015.

Competing traction companies operated a rollicking system of electric streetcars in Morgantown in the early 1900s. Trolleys buzzed north along the river to the glass factory in Seneca and south to neighborhoods and workplaces in Durbannah and beyond; they hummed along above Deckers Creek to the tin mill and other factories in Sabraton and eventually even out to coal mines in the western part of the county. Faster and more affordable than horse-drawn transit, trolleys opened living and work options for residents and must have enlivened downtown on weekends, too. That romantic era was short-lived: The streetcar gave way to the gasoline-powered automobile and bus by the mid-1920s.

Construction of Morgantown′s second airport, Hart Field on Hartman Run Road, started in 1935. The first airport was near today′s WVU Coliseum.

1901: Morgantown is incorporated.

1907: Star City is incorporated.

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

1909: Steel truss bridge replaces suspension bridge across the Mon.

1911: Westover is incorporated.

1920: Morgantown Chamber of Commerce forms.

1924: MHS is built.

1925: UHS opens.

COURTESY OF MORGANTOWN HISTORY MUSEUM (4)

Trolleys

“Farm lands are cheap but city improvements cost money.” If development is vision, guts, investment, and persuasion, J.W. Wiles had it all—especially the persuasion. In the circa 1903 prospectus promoting residences in South Park, Wiles Hill, and other rising suburbs, developer J.W. twisted home buyers’ emotional arms. “For years people waited and yearned for a location where the city could concentrate its best citizens and its finest residences,” he wrote of South Park. Five investors had paid for a bridge across the Deckers Creek ravine, he wrote, and the Morgantown Bridge Improvement Co. bought up land in South Park and planted hundreds of shade trees. “Seven miles of sewer pipe and one mile of paved street were soon laid,” he enthused. He pressed that “best citizens” appeal: “Are you not a little more ready to listen to a man who buys in South Park than one who buys a ‘Cheap John’ lot in a ‘Cheap John’ addition?” he asked in a 1902 newspaper advertisement. The opportunity wouldn’t last forever. “In two years you won’t know the place. And then how much do you suppose one of these lots will cost?” Buyers wouldn’t regret it. Given restrictions on ownership, “If your lot is in South Park, your neighbor is sure to be a good one.”

In his prospectus promoting neighborhoods in development, the “RealEstate King” touted the depth and extensiveness of the sewer lines his company laid. “It required a train of over 40 large B&O cars to haul the sewer tile for South Park,” he bragged.

MORGANTOWN S SUBURBS; COURTESY OF MORGANTOWN HISTORY MUSEUM; KATIE GRIFFITH

Mason Extraordinaire When Ferdinando Pitassi came to the U.S. in 1896, immigration officers couldn’t understand his name. So he renamed himself Thoney Pietro, like the Italian “pietra,” for stone. Just 18, Thoney was already an accomplished mason in Italy. He joined his brothers in Pittsburgh and, by 1900, his bricklaying prowess was so apparent that co-workers timed him at an astounding 136 bricks per minute, on average, for over eight hours. When Thoney and his wife took a trip upriver to Fairmont, the sight of Morgantown gave him a nostalgic feeling for home, and the family moved here in 1911 to set up home and business. His Pietro Paving and Construction Company paved our main roads in brick: High and Spruce streets and University Avenue downtown, among many other examples. His bricks are still exposed on Park Street in South Park. The company became a regional general contractor, operating statewide and in Pennsylvania. Thoney built several structures in Lower Greenmont, including the Sons of Italy house, now rentals, and a large, elegant buff brick Tudor Revival home for his family on Kingwood Street. His best known structure around town is “Thoney’s Castle” on Tyrone Road, near Cheat Lake: 23 rooms on three levels, with stone arches, turrets, patios, and a marble fireplace, all built to look like a castle he’d seen in Italy as a boy. The castle’s $200,000 cost is often compared with $55,000 for Frank Lloyd Wright’s contemporary Fallingwater. Thoney’s family lived at the castle from 1933 until 1949, when they donated it to the Franciscan Order of the Catholic Church.

1937: Suncrest is first incorporated as the town of Suncrest. It becomes part of Morgantown in 1949.

1939: Morgantown’s second airport opens in current location.

1947: Granville is incorporated.

1950

1925: West Penn Power Co. dams Cheat River, forming Cheat Lake.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

Modernization of institutions and infastructure

Morgantown’s first long-lasting hospital was built in 1901 at the corner of Willey and Prospect streets, near where a Dairy Mart stands today. Promotional materials for the 35-bed for-profit City Hospital and Training Center noted that streetcars—which passed through the factory districts—“arrive every few minutes, making it very convenient for accident cases.” But the Women’s Hospital Association came to see the need for a nonprofit community hospital, and it successfully made its case to the community and raised the funds. When the newly outfitted 50-bed volunteer Monongalia County Hospital opened in 1922 in an unused part of the county poor house on Van Voorhis, the New Dominion enthused about its “three large wards, already partly filled up, two inviting sun parlors already fitted up, and six private rooms,” as well as its operating rooms, kitchen, and spacious nurses’ quarters. The county took control of that hospital in 1929 and changed the name to Monongalia General Hospital, and soon opened a modern, $250,000, 100-bed facility in 1940, still on Van Voorhis with expansions in the 1940s and 1950s. Meanwhile, in 1951, Governor Oakey Patteson chose Morgantown as the site of the university medical school. The 400-bed University Hospital doubled the number of beds in the Morgantown area when it opened in 1960. City Hospital had turned nonprofit in 1950, and it merged with Monongalia County Hospital to become Monongalia General in 1972, leaving just two hospitals in town. Monongalia General constructed a new, 250-bed facility in 1977 at its current location off of West Virginia 705 and has since made several major expansions and modernizations. And University Hospital was replaced in 1988 by Ruby Memorial Hospital, with West Virginia University Hospitals frequently adding and updating

the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, the Eye Institute—that hospital property has probably done more than any other project to create economic activity here.” He acknowledges the level of choice residents have. “What community can you find anywhere that has two quality health care systems like we do in Morgantown?”

1970: Construction on Appalachian Corridor E, U.S. Route 48 to Hancock, Maryland, begins. WVU unveils Coliseum.

1950 74

services and facilities. “It seems like the cranes have never left the hospital,” says longtime WVU administrator and former Morgantown mayor Ron Justice of WVU’s commitment to expanding the Ruby campus rather looking at locations outside the city boundary. “Rosenbaum Family House, the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center,

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

1975: Mountaineer Mall opens.

BOB BEVERLY, COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY; COURTESY OF MON GENERAL HOSPITAL

Places of Wellness

The Huntington National Bank building at the corner of High and Pleasant was First National Bank of Morgantown a half-century ago.

PRT

KATIE GRIFFITH; COURTESY OF MORGANTOWN HISTORY MUSEUM; CARLA WITT FORD

Capital Gains

Not many decades ago, it was hard to get a loan for a big development project. Banks were limited by federal regulators. “When you’re a $20 million bank and you can lend 15 percent of that—the ratio varies depending on the strength of the economy—$3 million is the ceiling for a loan,” says retired Morgantown bank executive Barton Loar. “That’s pretty big, but it doesn’t fund a mall or a coal mine or a timber plant.” Banks were also limited by the state’s prohibition on branch banking: No pooling of capital from multiple sites in the same banking company. “So banks cooperated,” Barton says. “I used to originate loans here that I shared with banks in Fairmont and in Kingwood. I’d book a loan and sell a piece of it to them.” It wasn’t until the early 1980s that West Virginia allowed countywide, then statewide, branch banking. Soon, mergers began. “As city banks gobbled up the little country banks, those offices were operated as branches and the capital was pooled in the city banks so they could lend big amounts of money,” Barton says. Barton was senior lending officer at an expanding First National Bank of Morgantown when Glenn Adrian and Mark Nesselroad—as Glenmark Associates, developer of nursing homes—first approached him for a loan in the mid-1980s. “We had a lot of capital,” Barton says. The new lending capacity supported the beginnings of large-scale development. “I always had the attitude that the bank could make things happen,” Barton says. “I have a reputation of being an aggressive lender. I’ve made a

1980: WVU unveils Mountaineer Field.

lot of loans and I’ve made my share of mistakes. Sometimes you take the risk even though it’s really a long shot.” Barton is humble about his own successes, but touts others’—for example, Suncrest Towne Centre and University Town Centre. “Those are major life-changers in this market,” he says. “They’ve brought in retail that we would not have gotten any other way.” He appreciates development that preserves, too. At First National Bank, he oversaw the bankruptcy sale of the Seneca Glass Company facility on Beechurst. Today, he manages the former plant as the Seneca Center (page 34) with co-owner Jerry Hall. “I think a community gains perspective and cachet by saving its old properties,” he says.

1988: Main Street Morgantown is formed.

1990: Morgantown Mall opens.

1995: Gift from McQuain Charitable Trust supports riverfront amphitheater and park.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

2000

1979: I-79 is completed to Charleston.

Today, retired Morgantown bank executive Barton Loar paints walls in shirts he bought from the old Morgan Shirt Company factory store. They closed in 1996 but we’d restructured their loan in 1994. That was a huge risk but it was so important: 65 women worked there six days a week. A community bank has an obligation to invest the depositors’ money into things that better their lives and make the community grow.”

In the 1960s, city-planning theorists began designing people-mover systems that combined the convenience of the automobile with the safety and efficiency of mass transit. When the federal government decided to promote these new Personal Rapid Transit systems, interest from WVU industrial engineer Samy Elias and pressure from West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd got traffic-bound Morgantown chosen as a federal test site. Started in 1970 with a building estimate of $15 million to $20 million and completed in 1975 at over $60 million, the Morgantown PRT system was considered at the time an expensive flop—yet 40 years later, after an early Phase II expansion and regular modernizations, about 15,000 people ride the PRT every school day. Still one of the very few PRT systems in operation anywhere, its iconic cars and tracks draw the study and admiration of visitors from around the world.

Preservation, recreational amenities, open-air shopping units

Developers’ Developers

Wharf District viewed from the disused rail corridor before redevelopment

Ask developers what changes of recent decades have made the most difference in the character of Morgantown, and nearly all mention the ongoing overhaul of Sabraton undertaken in the 1990s by Glenmark Holding: Mark Nesselroad and Glenn Adrian and then, after 2011, Mark and his son, Mark. Glenmark broke a lot of development ground, so to speak. Glenmark Centre, now Pierpont Centre, at Exit 7 of Interstate 68, was the first big shopping center in the Cheat Lake area when it was finished in 1999. “It was very hard back in that day to get national companies to come and look at Morgantown,” Mark says. But once Outback and Lowe’s arrived, he adds, the Glenmark locations became some of their busiest. And perhaps first in upscale Class A office space in town was Glenmark’s 2004 United Center on Van Voorhis. But for urban edge and charm, nothing beats the section Glenmark preserved in the Wharf District. “We bought the Hills Furniture building, the Coca-Cola bottling plant, the old Montgomery Ward service center, the Baker Hardware warehouse, and a house,” Mark says of a blighted row that promised historical riverfront appeal. “We maintained the character of that whole corner.” Oliverio’s Ristorante, opened in 2001, anchors the row. Local startups MedExpress (page 88) and SustainU (page 87) rented, then made it big and moved on, and Mountain State Brewing Company is a popular later addition. Mark sees things coming full circle. “When I grew up, we had High Street Market, McVicker’s Drugs, Reiner & Core—downtown was the only shopping area we had,” he says. “Then we had the mall era, and that’s kind of over, and then the strip malls, and now there’s the Internet wave. And with that you’re seeing some of the smaller stores come back in vogue, like the farmers’ market downtown and convenience stores that are kind of what grocery stores were when I was a kid. The specialty stores are coming back—and that gives you more of that environment of community.”

2000

While Glenmark was maintaining historic character in the center of the old Wharf, Platinum Properties partners Steve Lorenze, Parry Petroplus, and Milan Puskar were transforming the Wharf’s south end with shiny new high-rises. Platinum’s Waterfront Place—a WVU administrative building and then a 16-story Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, plus associated parking—opened in stages in 2002 and 2003, along with Class A office space in its six-story Jackson Kelly building on the Caperton rail-trail. Platinum’s mixed-use, eight-story Marina Towers soon followed. Soon to become the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place Hotel, it became the venue of choice in Morgantown for conferences of all sizes as soon as it opened. Many credit WVU’s and Platinum’s $100 million in investments in the south Wharf with drawing another $14 million in 2004 state economic development grants. Using that and matching funds, Platinum developed the Morgantown Event Center trade show and theater venue at Three Waterfront Place as well as the River Center boat docks and boathouse that serve river travelers and host WVU’s rowing team and the Monongahela Rowing Association and an airy riverview restaurant space now occupied by Table 9 (page 47). In its Jackson Kelly and Marina Towers buildings in the heart of the wharf, Platinum chose mixes of brick that stayed close to the historic texture of the neighborhood, but the overall effect is contemporary elegance.

2000: First pitch at Chaplin Hill Recreation Complex—later known as Mylan Park

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

From Seedy to Sexy How do you repopulate an abandoned neighborhood? Hazel Ruby McQuain saw the potential in Morgantown’s weedy, ramshackle riverfront and knew how to share her vision: She gave the city $200,000 for riverfront revitalization and matched federal funds for the upand-coming Mon River Trails Conservancy. By the turn of the millennium, the Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park and 1,500-seat amphitheater hosted the city’s biggest festivals at the north end of the soon-to-come Wharf District. And as a new neighborhood rose from the ruins of the old, joggers, cyclists, and families pushing strollers along the newly paved Caperton Trail showed up to try new restaurants and enjoy a view previously lost to an industrial past.

2004: A new bridge replaces 1950 Star City bridge that was demolished spectacularly in 2002. City of Morgantown acquires the Metropolitan Theatre and restoration continues.

2005: University Town Centre becomes the first shopping center of its kind in Morgantown.

COURTESY OF GLENMARK HOLDING (2); CARLA WITT FORD

Tall, Glitzy, and Modern

Wharf District and rail-trail today

Redefining “Town Center” A decade ago, the Morgantown area saw the beginnings of a shopping district unlike any that had come before. Located across the river in Granville on a sprawling 500-acre post-mining plateau, University Town Centre got its start in 2005 with national-scale anchors Target, Best Buy, and Barnes & Noble, along with an updated Giant Eagle supermarket. Dick’s Sporting Goods, a Walmart Supercenter, and Sam’s Club soon followed, as well as a 10-screen movie theater.

MSA

KATIE GRIFFITH; CARLA WITT FORD

With the tallying of the 2000 census, the U.S. Census Bureau named Monongalia and Preston counties the Morgantown Metropolitan Statistical Area. Some say MSA status raises the marketing profile of a region with regard to large companies’ siting decisions, and some say it makes little difference over the long-term—but it can’t be denied that national chain retail, food, and lodging have appeared here at an unprecedented rate in this millennium.

“Today Morgantown is optimistic, it’s thriving, it’s growing—one of the most awarded small cities in the country,” said former WVU President David Hardesty on the death in 2011 of businessman and philanthropist Milan “Mike” Puskar. “We wouldn’t have been this way without Mike.”

Dave and Rick Biafora stand at Pierpont Landing.

Creating Lifestyle Modern living alongside upscale shopping and services might be a fair, if incomplete, summary of the eclectic mix of developments coming from the umbrella of Metro Property Management in the last 25 years. “We’re just trying to fill the need,” says Metro’s David Biafora. Orchard Crossings, Ashley Oaks, and Suncrest Village are among the apartment and condominium complexes the Biaforas developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But Metro soon began creating some of the most popular shopping and dining destinations around town. First was the Mileground’s Northpointe Plaza—adjacent to a townhouse complex Metro had done earlier—home to Yesterday’s Bar & Grille. With the success of that, Metro opened two much larger projects in 2009. Pierpont Landing, at I-68’s Exit 7, is “a market and village-type concept for people in the Cheat Lake area so they wouldn’t always have to come

2006: First phase of High Street streetscape project begins.

2007: WVU reopens newly renovated downtown campus buildings, including Brooks, Olgebay, and Colson halls.

all the way into town,” David says. Suncrest Towne Centre also opened its first businesses in 2009. Just outside city limits on the north side of town, the 50-acre, open-air shopping center’s mix of retail, services, and office space got its start with a Super Kroger, soon followed by Hilton Garden Inn, McDonald’s, and a mix of upscale independent and chain boutiques. Metro recently finished the 234-bed Central Place faith-based housing for students downtown near campus. “There’s been nothing of that size built downtown with the parking, walking distance, and the amenities the property has,” David says. “It’s another need that needed to be filled.” Metro is starting on a second phase at Fort Pierpont, retail and office space adjacent to Pierpont Landing. “Unlike a lot of developers and government agencies, we build to fit an area—we make sure we have enough parking and the roads and streets are right,” David says. “We really do put our minds to it.”

2008: New UHS facility opens to students and faculty.

2009: The first businesses open at the new Suncrest Towne Centre.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

2010

2005: Sterling Faucet redevelopment in Sabraton opens with a post office, bank, hotel and Sheetz station.

University Town Centre’s dining, lodging, and retail offerings grew through the decade. It occupied the biggest, highest stretch of flat land around, an expanse previously surface mined by Consolidation Coal Co. and under development by Mon-View LLC, representing Morgantown developers the Lynch family and Consol Energy. As University Town Centre proved successful, there was more land to be had— many hundreds of acres convenient to the interstate, with views of Morgantown and the Monongahela River valley—promising vast future expansion (page 80).

WVU Evansdale campus redevelopment, student housing expands

Building Greatness

University Park opened in 2015.

COURTESY OF GLENMARK HOLDING (2)

West Virginia University started a building spree a few years ago, raising new facilities and reshaping entire sections of campus. The ongoing $250 million redevelopment of Evansdale has transformed the landscape in that part of town. “There’s the new College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences and Student Health and Wellness center, the new Agricultural Sciences building, and all the work that’s been done at engineering with the Advanced Engineering Research Building,” says Ron Justice, state, corporate, and local relations specialist for the university—all of these buildings completed in the past several years. There’s also an updated greenhouse, a new art museum, and the Evansdale Crossing student center that connects the upper and lower Evansdale campuses with the Engineering PRT station. “And we’ve added parking and created new traffic patterns,” Ron says of the pedestrian-centered design. “That’s certainly helped with traffic in that area.” Much of WVU’s construction in recent years has been a needed catch-up with university’s own growth. Enrollment in Morgantown is up 3,500 in the past decade, hitting nearly 28,800 this fall. It’s been a real estate pinch for residents, but as the university adds beds it is also taking the opportunity to replace run-down rental stock with modern facilities. Siting the Honors Dorm in Sunnyside in 2009 inspired some much-needed revitalization in that neighborhood, Ron says. “Since WVU made that major investment in Sunnyside, there’s been new private investment of over $100 million there.” More recently, the College Park and University Place residences opened in 2014 and University Park opened this year—all told, about 3,000 new beds in six years. To work cost-effectively in an era of tight government budgets, WVU has increasingly made use of the publicprivate partnership. Examples include Evansdale Crossing, College Park, University Place, and University Park, as well as the new baseball stadium in Granville. “With University Place and University Park, we worked with local developers on both of those projects,” Ron says: University Place with Paradigm Development Group and University Park with Glenmark Holding. And he points out the value of the mixed-use nature of some of these developments. “These projects have brought new businesses or storefronts to Morgantown, like Sheetz and IHOP,” he says. “In the Evansdale Crossing connector building alone, there are seven. When they’re all built out, there are going to be between 18 and 22 new retail spaces.”

2010

2012: First link of Mon–Fayette Expressway opens. WVU purchases lots in Sunnyside along University Avenue for new housing. Ice’s Ferry Bridge in Cheat Lake is demolished and its replacement opens.

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

Art Museum of WVU opened in 2015.

CARLA WITT FORD; COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY; ELIZABETH ROTH

Evansdale Crossing opened in 2015.

Presenting to WVUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Board of Governors in 2014 about the public-private partnerships behind three residence halls, the new student center, and the new baseball park, WVU Vice President for Administration and Finance Narvel Weese said the estimated financial impact on local and state governments would include $5.3 million in building and occupation taxes to the city of Morgantown, plus annual revenues of $428,000 to the city

WVU Health and Education Building opened in 2014.

$503,000 to Monongalia County, and $750,000 in sales taxes to the state.

2014: Mon General Hospital is approved for a $75 million expansion to include a medical office park. Morgantown Municipal Airport unveils runway and airport extension plans.

2015: The new Mon County Justice Center occupies the old downtown post office building.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

2015

2013: Beech View Place apartments open on Beechurst Avenue, replacing a line of run-down businesses and homes. Shops begin opening at The Gateway off the I-79 Star City exit.

Looking onward to Morgantown’s future

Westward Expansion

Jason Donahue of FEOH Realty looks over construction of the new I-79 interchange, to open in August 2016.

known for his work with the Gabriel Brothers discount retail chain. “There’s a view over the ballpark from the front side and an unbelievable view over the Coliseum and the river from the back. We plan to open March 1, 2016.” Altogether, public and private capital investment on the east side of the highway will be well over $100 million, Jason says. And several hundred acres of everything from residential to retail to office and industrial space on the west side will

Our sources for this sweeping history of the growth of Morgantown were numerous, including several volumes of Earl L. Core’s The Monongalia Story, the knowledgeable people at the Morgantown History Museum and the Morgantown Public Library Aull Center and 80

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

represent at least another $100 million. “Development requires contributions from a wide variety of people: the city and county; state-level folks; the private sector has to have a contribution and a benefit; and individual components have to contribute as well. So it’s pretty complicated and requires a great deal of cooperation,” he says. “I think the University Town Centre project has changed our community’s willingness to try to get things done. We now see we can get big projects done if everybody helps.”

documents they referred us to, National Register of Historic Places nomination forms and other compilings from hobby and scholarly city historians, the websites of organizations mentioned, and private communications.

CARLA WITT FORD; NIKKI BOWMAN; CARLA WITT FORD

A decade after University Town Centre opened, Mon-View LLC has begun bringing the Granville site’s greater potential to reality. It started with the idea for a baseball field. “We were trying to figure out how to develop the property up there,” remembers Jason Donahue of FEOH Realty, consultant and broker for Mon-View. “We needed another access point, an interchange, but to get that you have to have something that’s different and unique. The ballpark idea did that. And then the interchange would open up the west side of the highway, too.” It depended in part on Tax Increment Financing, a forward-looking arrangement that finances infrastructure based on the increase in tax revenues the subsequent development is expected to bring. County and state TIF approvals were completed in 2012 and 2013. With that funding came the Monongalia County Ballpark: a $21 million facility shared by WVU’s baseball team and by the new New York-Penn League Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate, the West Virginia Black Bears. The 2,500-seat stadium opened in April 2015 to acclaim for its intimate feel and wide views over the city. The new I-79 interchange between exits 152 and 155, under construction now, will relieve congestion on the east side of the highway and open access to future development on the west side. The interchange is expected to open in August 2016. Meanwhile, University Town Centre continues expanding toward the new interchange. In May 2015, WVU Medicine opened an outpatient facility for family doctors and specialists. And among plans for half a dozen restaurants, three car dealerships, and 50,000 square feet more retail space, is an upscale hotel in development by Gibby Gabriel and Tom Bonney. “We studied it and thought it was beneficial for a Courtyard by Marriott, which is probably one of the best Marriott brands at this time,” says Gibby, a local developer

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Focus WEST VIRGINIA

BUILDING A BETTER STATE ONE ISSUE AT A TIME

A MAGAZINE from New South Media, Inc., the publisher of WV Living, WV Weddings, & Morgantown magazines SUBSCRIBE ONLINE AT

wvfocus.com/subscribe OR CALL 304.413.0104

wvfocus.com | twitter.com/wvfocus | facebook.com/westvirginiafocus

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

These entrepreneurs came, saw, and carved niches. written by Jake Stump | photographed by Elizabeth Roth From a walk-in health care provider to a sustainable clothing line, these seven start-ups chose Morgantown as their launch pad, a decision that has helped them buck a harrowing trend among small businesses: failure. A 2014 Gallup study found that 50 percent of new U.S. companies fold within the first five years. But not only have these businesses survived, they have also forged reputations that shine beyond the Mountain State and across the country and even the world. Their reasons for locating in Morgantown are similar. They love the small-town feel, the natural environment, and the depth of available talent. These businesses are all bound by a common threadâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;they were born in Morgantownâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but the how and why behind each success story is unique.

BLAINE TURNER

In January 2016, Blaine Turner Advertising will celebrate 30 years as a full-service marketing firm. That’s 30 years of business that began on a whim. Founder Ginna Royce was working for an advertising agency in Morgantown when one of her clients canceled his contract while she was on vacation. The client, Louis Bonasso, soon called her and told her if she got her own office and a phone he’d be her first client. Without hesitation, Ginna found that office space and phone. She called Louis, took him on as her first client, and named her business Blaine Turner somewhat randomly after her father, who had nothing to do with marketing or her business— Ginna wanted a “strong,” anonymous name. “It’s as simple as that,” Ginna says. “I was too naive to think it was a risk. Louis pushed me into it.” With a background in journalism, Ginna provided design, copywriting, and media placement services for his franchises and quickly gained more clients, including Anthony Pitrolo of Anthony Chevrolet and Saul Radman of Daniel’s Men’s Clothing. As the business grew to include a graphic designer and Ginna’s husband as vice president and CFO, Blaine Turner’s services also grew to include print and web design and work for tradeshows. Ginna considered the business legitimate when the company designed and constructed its own building 12 years ago in Star City. “That’s when it was set in stone,” she says. “We had equity in it.” Decades later Blaine Turner shows no signs of slowing down. It has grown to include 12 employees and its services run the gamut—graphic design, audio and video production, website development, social media, online marketing, public relations, and market research. Blaine Turner has won various awards for its work with clients such as the Morgantown Convention & Visitors Bureau and United Hospital Center. “You can’t ask for a better community to support a small business,” Ginna says. “This is a close community with people who will support you.” blaineturner.com

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

DOWNSTREAM STRATEGIES Evan Hansen never had any ties to West Virginia. A New Jersey native, Evan was an academic through and through. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then a master’s degree in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley. But when Evan and his family began looking for a place to settle down and call home, they envisioned a small college town with access to outdoor recreation and affordable land. Morgantown stood out and, after moving, Evan decided to put his degrees to use by starting a consulting business. In 1997 Evan launched Downstream Strategies, an environmental consulting firm that offers services such as research, policy analyses, and disaster management. As his business grew and more projects flowed in, Evan tapped into the vast resources at WVU and hired professors as subcontractors. In 2008, a second owner, Fritz Boettner, moved his family from Colorado to join Evan. Fritz was no stranger to West Virginia, having grown up in Charleston and attended WVU. After a career working for multiple engineering companies, he decided it was time to come home, and Evan’s missiondriven consulting firm sounded like a good fit. Marc Glass, who specializes in soil and water remediation, joined the company in 2012 as a third owner. Initially the company focused on assisting nonprofit organizations, but its clientele has expanded to law firms and government agencies, from the city of Morgantown to the West Virginia Legislature to the country of Barbados, where Downstream Strategies recently conducted analysis and training related to climate change impacts on the Barbados coastlines. Locally, Downstream Strategies has collaborated with the Morgantown Utility Board on a project to minimize the risk of drinking water contamination. The firm was also instrumental in the policymaking surrounding the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in Charleston. Downstream Strategies completed reports that guided legislators to pass West Virginia Senate Bill 373, the Water Resources Protection Act. “We’re proud of our research and reports that are relevant to state policy,” Evan says. “Most firms don’t talk about policy issues. They just get the numbers and report them to the clients. But we feel there’s a real need for policy to be informed by science. Being at that intersection between science and policy is where we stand out.” downstreamstrategies.com

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

Evan Hansen and Marc Glass (rear) conduct field work with Downstream Strategies staff.

KEYLOGIC Humble beginnings and hard work is the story of Jon Hammock’s life. Raised by a single mother in a mobile home in Mineral Wells, Jon was the first person in his family to graduate from college. Paying for his education wasn’t an easy endeavor, and he took out student loans and worked multiple jobs, including one as a security guard at a coal mine, to make ends meet. Today Jon is president, CEO, and founder of KeyLogic, a professional services and tech firm that generates nearly $30 million in annual revenue by offering government and commercial clients IT and data management services. The company now employs 170 people at offices in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and South Carolina. Jon, a self-described geek at heart, says there were no tech jobs in West Virginia in the late 1980s when he graduated from WVU with a computer science degree. He had 14 interviews for tech jobs, and only one took place in West Virginia. He took a job at Westinghouse in South Carolina, earned his MBA, and vowed to return to West Virginia as soon as possible. “At the time, Fairmont had the Technology Park,” Jon says—that’s the High Technology Foundation’s business park on Interstate 79. “But there wasn’t really anything in Morgantown. I felt we could start a trend by strengthening the tech job industry here, especially with all of the talent at West Virginia University.” He founded KeyLogic in 1999 with the vision to provide those missing tech jobs in Morgantown and to help companies realize their full potential by coaching them to use software systems effectively. “You might have the greatest new software system in the world, but you haven’t figured out the right solution. That’s where we come in,” Jon says. “You need the right tools, the right technology, and the right management.” KeyLogic has partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and NASA, among other government entities, and has been heralded with several national awards for its work. In 2009 Jon was honored as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the region that includes West Virginia. In 2014 KeyLogic was named the Department of Energy’s Small Business of the Year. In 2015 the business was named U.S. Small Business Administration National Prime Contractor of the Year. keylogic.com

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

The entrepreneurial bug bit Nikki Bowman at an early age. At 5 years old she caught tadpoles to sell for 25 cents in front of a Foodland in Clay County. Decades later she’s selling magazine subscriptions, ad space, and the virtues of West Virginia—perhaps a heftier challenge than hawking tadpoles. In 2007, while working at Mississippi Magazine, Nikki felt her native West Virginia could benefit from a similar publication. She returned home after 16 years away, a period in which she earned a master’s degree in writing at DePaul University, to transform her passion into an entrepreneurial venture. She launched New South Media in 2008 with the debut of WV Living and WV Weddings magazines. It was a risky move at a time when the recession was shuttering magazines left and right. But seven years later Nikki has added two more publications, Morgantown and West Virginia Focus magazines, to her periodical empire, not to mention a range of custom publications that include The Ultimate Sports & Travel Guide to The Big 12, IDIntel, and Explore magazines. “My mission has always been to create publications that change perceptions about West Virginia,” Nikki says. “Not just how people outside the state view us, but how we look at ourselves as West Virginians.” As publisher Nikki frequently travels the state to connect with businesses and residents, to tell their stories, and to enrich their communities. Two years ago, West Virginia Focus began an initiative called “Turn This Town Around,” which so far has helped Matewan, Grafton, Ripley, and Whitesville identify community needs and opportunities. Nikki’s success did not come overnight. When New South Media formed, Nikki worked alone in a business incubator space on High Street. She did everything to produce that first issue of WV Living, from answering phones to selling subscriptions to designing, photographing, and writing the magazine. Today she employs 12 people in offices in Morgantown and Charleston. Fifteen years of magazine experience in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Mississippi helped. So did a dogged determination that included setting up displays at fairs and festivals, speaking to church and rotary groups, and delivering magazines in her minivan. It primed her for creating a new platform of lifestyle and travel publications for West Virginia that has reached audiences beyond the state line. Her magazines are sold on newsstands in 30 states, with subscribers in all 50. “I didn’t want to create something that was just good enough,” Nikki says. “I think what we’ve done is the best the state has seen. I really believe our publications are more than just magazines. They’re community builders.” newsouthmediainc.com

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

REBECCA KIGER FOTOGRAFIA

NEW SOUTH MEDIA

KATIE GRIFFITH

SUSTAIN U

Sure, Morgantown native Chris Yura takes satisfaction in seeing his SustainU products shipped all over the world. But what’s even more gratifying than his company’s name emblazoned on packages is the return address on the shipping label. “It’s hard to express how proud it makes me feel to know that we ship all over the world and the label says, ‘From Morgantown, West Virginia,’” Chris says. “It’s exciting to show the world what’s possible in West Virginia.” Chris, a Morgantown High School graduate and former Notre Dame football player, was working at the Ford Models agency in New York City when he developed an idea to build a clothing company modeled on sustainable resources and American manufacturing. “I wanted to think of not just a business, but a business with a purpose behind it,” he says. He had one place in mind where he could bring that idea to life. “I always wanted to come back to Morgantown,” he says. “I missed the people, the land, and the places. When I felt it was time to launch the business, I knew the only place it could be was Morgantown.” He returned in 2009 to launch SustainU, a company that focuses primarily on university and outdoor apparel using recycled fabrics, postindustrial cottons, and postconsumer polyester. Those innovations enable SustainU to save millions of gallons of water, petroleum, agrochemicals, and carbon dioxide emissions. Chris also committed to the “Made in America” movement by investing in domestic manufacturing instead of relying on cheap, overseas labor. In addition to supplying local businesses with marketing apparel, SustainU has made giant leaps in landing big-name clientele. The company has produced shirts for the NCAA, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Austin City Limits Music Festival, and West Virginia Bridge Day. SustainU has even consulted with companies like Ralph Lauren and Kenneth Cole to help them develop products from recycled materials. “I wanted to create jobs and churn out products using progressive materials and sustainable fibers,” he says. “We were onto that trend six years ago. Now more and more customers are looking for those types of products.” sustainuclothing.com

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

COURTESY OF MEDEXPRESS

Growing up in Greenbrier County, Frank Alderman never understood why people in need of quick medical care for things like ear infections and strep throat had to schedule an appointment in advance or rush to a hospital emergency room to see a doctor. That puzzle stuck with Frank over the years as he left Greenbrier County and went on to an emergency medicine residency at the WVU School of Medicine. In 2001 Frank and a few classmates—Bryan Stuchell, Christian McCarter, and Kevin Blankenship—set out from WVU with an idea for a business model that would eliminate traveling to the emergency room or waiting days for an appointment, even in rural West Virginia. The foursome founded MedExpress, an urgent care facility open seven days a week that accepts walk-in patients for a variety of ailments. The first location opened in Morgantown’s Wharf District, and the company has quickly grown to 160 locations in 14 states serving three million people. “We knew right away that our model would be a winning one, mainly because we were founded with a commitment to treating each patient as if he or she were our only patient,” Frank says. Since its founding, MedExpress has expanded its offerings to include employer health services and basic wellness and prevention services. In 2015, the company sold to UnitedHealth for $1.5 billion, which helped to accelerate the company’s expansion. Frank attributes part of MedExpress’ success to its partnerships with community organizations and other health care providers. MedExpress recently announced an initiative in which it will coordinate care with Mon General Hospital and Mon Health System’s network of physicians if more advanced care is needed by patients. MedExpress also sponsors charitable efforts such as the Penny Wars, in which it matches donations from the winner of the annual Mohawk Bowl high school football matchup in Morgantown to buy meals, clothing, and school supplies for local children. “It’s a terrific and humbling experience to be part of a team that is doing such meaningful work,” Frank says. “I have no doubt that we will further realize our focus on improving the health of the communities we serve. We’re looking forward to further growth and innovation, truly revolutionizing the health care experience for our patients.” medexpress.com

COURTESY OF MED EXPRESS

MEDEXPRESS

MON VALLEY INTEGRATION

RICK LEE

After graduating from West Virginia University with an electrical engineering degree in 1977, Jim Lunden, a Grafton native, immediately plunged into the coal mining industry full-time. Twenty years later, Jim flirted with the idea of starting his own business. With no major debt, mortgage, or car payments lingering over his head, and pushing 50, he knew the time was then or never—even if it meant launching a business in the basement of his house. In 2002, he did just that, establishing Mon Valley Integration, an electrical systems contractor that provides a wide array of services to industrial clients, mainly in the energy sector. In those days, Jim would start the workday alongside his wife Kathy, son Ian, and business partner Shawn Konya in his basement office. Soon, he added more engineers to the mix, and the basement became too crowded. “We outgrew the house and my wife wanted us out,” Jim laughs. Mon Valley Integration relocated to Morgantown Commons and eventually outgrew that space, too. Today the company has expanded to include more than 40 employees in two buildings off Greenbag Road. In addition to increasing his staff and his space, Jim also had to evolve his strategy. Mon Valley Integration originally focused on the coal industry, but with the on-going downturn in coal mining, the company has embraced other industries. “Coal’s been our bread and butter, and it still keeps us busy,” Jim says. “But we’ve learned to transition to other energy markets, including the Marcellus and Utica shales, natural gas, and utility work for the power companies.” Today Mon Valley Integration serves clients throughout Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Many are heavy hitters in the energy industry such as Consol Energy, Alpha Natural Resources, and American Electric Power. Not bad for a company that started out in a cramped basement. “Some days I need to remind myself that we’re not a mom-and-pop organization anymore,” Jim says. “Each year, we have seen steady, consistent growth. Morgantown has been very good to us. I can’t imagine this business doing as well anywhere else.” mvi.bz

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

Your local guide to life, art, culture, & more DEC/JAN 2016

COURTESY OF B.E. TAYLOR

December DECEMBER 8 Santa’s Workshop Wiles Hill Community Building, 287 Eureka Drive, Tues., 6–7:30 p.m., 304.296.8356 boparc.org Craft making, cookie decorating, and writing letters to Santa make for a fun evening for kids between 3 and 8 years old. Photos with Santa encouraged! $12 DECEMBER 9 & 10 Cirque Dreams Holidaze Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre, WVU Creative Arts Center, Wed. and Thurs., 7:30 p.m. 304.293.SHOW, events.wvu.edu Santa has some acrobatic tricks up his sleeve. Cirque Dreams presents a combination of a Broadway musical and Christmas show in a new variety show, Cirque Dreams Holidaze. General seating starts at $39. $23 for WVU students DECEMBER 11 Andy McKee Mainstage Morgantown, 444 Chestnut Street Fri., 7 p.m., 304.291.5060 mainstagewv.tunestub.com With just one guitar and delicate fingers, Andy McKee creates music ranging from percussive acoustic melodies to western banjo-esque riffs. $22 DECEMBER 12 Breakfast with Santa Lakeview Resort, One Lakeview Drive, Sat., 10 a.m.–1 p.m., 304.594.9516, lakeviewresort.com Bring the whole family to enjoy a hearty breakfast before taking pictures with Santa, making holiday crafts, and taking sleigh rides in the Reflections Ballroom on the Lake. $12 per person Tea with Mrs. Claus The Tea Shoppe, 709 Beechurst Avenue Suite 23, Sat., 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 304.413.0890 theteashoppewv.com How does Mrs. Claus take her tea? Find out and enjoy games, songs, and activities at The Tea Shoppe. A portion of the proceeds will go to the WVU Children’s Hospital. $20 DECEMBER 15 The Marshall Tucker Band Mainstage Morgantown, 444 Chestnut Street Tues., 8 p.m., 304.291.5060

DECEMBER 21 Singer and songwriter B.E. Taylor returns to perform his Christmas show. This event has been broadcast on public television and benefits the United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties. $35–50 WVU Creative Arts Center, Mon., 7:30 p.m., 304.293.SHOW, events.wvu.edu

mainstagewv.tunestub.com Headed by lead singer Doug Gray, the classic rock and country band that took off in the 1970s and ’80s comes to Morgantown’s newest concert venue. 18 and older. $35-45

Red Stone Dance Initiative, a youth modern dance organization, Ebenezer is a familyfriendly Christmas dance choreographed by Angela Dennis. $7–15 DECEMBER 18

DECEMBER 17–20 Ebenezer M.T. Pockets Theatre, 1390½ University Avenue, Thurs. & Fri., 8 p.m., Sat., 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m., mtpocketstheatre.com Featuring the area’s only semi-professional dance company, Alchemy Dance Project, and

Commencement WVU Coliseum, 3450 Monongahela Road, Fri. 1:30 p.m., 304.293.7132, graduation.wvu.edu August and December 2015 WVU graduates will receive their diplomas on stage at the WVU Coliseum. Tickets are not required.

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

NIKKI BOWMAN

DECEMBER 12 Performing old time bluegrass and original mountain music, the Hillbilly Gypsies deliver high-energy, string-picking shows. The group’s last album, West Virginia Line, was published in 2014 and showcases a love for Appalachia. 123 Pleasant Street, Sat. 10 p.m., 304.292.0800 123pleasantstreet.com

DECEMBER 19 Christmas Bird Count Various locations, Sat., 8 a.m.–4 p.m. 304.379.7505, mountaineeraudubon.org The nation’s longest-running community bird project, Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count attempts to count all birds within 15 miles. Free

January JANUARY 16 WVU Children’s Hospital Grand Bash Ruby Community Center at Mylan Park 500 Mylan Park Lane, Sat., 1–7 p.m. 304.598.4346, Ext. 6, wvgrandbash.com Win cash prizes, cars, jewelry, and travel packages. All net proceeds from this annual bash benefit WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital, a member of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. $100 per ticket JANUARY 17 Mountain Stage Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre, WVU Creative Arts Center, Sun., 7 p.m., 304.293.SHOW events.wvu.edu The live-recorded National Public Radio show is back in Morgantown, hosted by singer and songwriter Larry Groce. General admission starts at $23. $10 for WVU students JANUARY 22 Bria Skonberg Quintet WVU Creative Arts Center, Fri., 7:30 p.m. 304.293.SHOW, events.wvu.edu 92

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

Performing in a classic jazz set, powerhouse Bria Skonberg sings, plays the trumpet, and composes her own music. The Wall Street Journal claims Bria is “poised to be one of the most versatile musicians of her generation.” General admission begins at $23, $10 for WVU students JANUARY 12 WVU Men’s Basketball vs. Kansas WVU Coliseum, 3450 Monongahela Road, Tues. 7 p.m., 1.800.WVU.GAME, wvusports.com The Mountaineers play the back-to-back Big 12 Champions University of Kansas Jayhawks. The last time the Jayhawks came to Morgantown, the Mountaineers triumphed in an intense lastsecond win. JANUARY 15 Tracing Faces Monongalia Arts Center, 107 High Street Thurs., 5:30 p.m., 304.292.3325 monartscenter.com A public reception celebrates the art exhibit “Tracing Faces,” on display in the Monongalia Arts Center’s Benedum Gallery through December and January. The exhibit features portraits of diversity and personal narratives.

marketplace shopping, and the 6th Annual Iron Chef Competition. Day packages and weekend packages available. JANUARY 18 10th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Celebration Metropolitan Theatre, 373 High Street, Mon. ccsjwv.org After a decade of hosting the annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Celebration, the Community Coalition for Social Justice will host a bigger program this year with The Shack Neighborhood House looking at the historical impact of Dr. King. Free JANUARY 22–24 Opera Noir! WVU Creative Arts Center, Fri.& Sat., 7:30 p.m. Sun., 3 p.m., 304.293.SHOW, events.wvu.edu The WVU School of Music presents three acts in “Opera Noir! An Evening of One-Acts: Love and Murder are NEVER Black and White!”

Upcoming FEBRUARY 4–6

JANUARY 15–17 32nd Annual Festival of Food and Wine Lakeview Resort, One Lakeview Drive, Fri.– Sun., 304.594.1111, lakeviewresort.com The 32nd Annual Festival of Food and Wine, “A Fusion Culinary Tour of North America,” will feature cooking seminars, wine tastings,

Dance Now! 2016 WVU Creative Arts Center, Thurs., Fri., Sat., 7:30 p.m., 304.293.SHOW, events.wvu.edu Directed by Yoav Kaddar, the annual WVU School of Theatre and Dance concert will showcase student dancers performing a variety of dance styles studied throughout the semester.

Our Social Circles

@MorgantownMag

A New Club in Town!

The Black Bear Club reading at 123 Pleasant Street on Nov. 6, featuring Denise Giardina (left) and hosted by Howard Parsons, was packed with more than 100 attendees.

The Black Bear Club tweeted: @mikenna_pt at @MorgantownMag wrote a really super awesome piece about The Black Bear Club! <3 <3

October 22 Have you spotted any #balloonsovermorgantown? These were seen flying over Greenbag Road.

KATIE GRIFFITH

drDOCTOR tweeted: Great write-up up about our best bud @brucepancake and his @blackbearclubwv in @MorgantownMag by @mikenna_pt

You can follow us on Twitter, too. Just add @MorgantownMag for links to stories, breaking news, event reminders, and more.

Flair for the Arts!

Our readers responded well to the “Rising Stars” artists feature in the October/November issue of Morgantown magazine! Even the stars themselves had something to say.

November 9 We enjoyed a delicious treat from @southperkmarket on Kingwood Street earlier today. Stop in this Saturday for the inaugural South Perk Saturday morning pancake breakfast from 8:30–11:30 a.m. We hear they even serve bacon waffles!

Michael Loop via Facebook: Excited to be included in this month’s edition of Morgantown magazine with 10 other local artists. WVU Creative Arts tweeted: Loving the Oct./Nov. issue of @MorgantownMag with its feature on the rising stars of the local artistic community!

November 25

Don’t miss out. Join the conversation on our Facebook page: facebook.com/ morgantownmag 94

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

CARLA WITT FORD

Facebook Fun

We’ve completed week one of voting for Best of Morgantown 2016! Our closest competition so far is for Morgantown’s best breakfast! Head to our website now to put your favorite place for the best breakfast in the lead and vote for our other categories at morgantownmag.com/BOM. #BOM2016 #Morgantown #MorgantownMag

MORGANTOWNMAG.COM

THEN & NOW

High Steet today

High Steet in 1923

FOR MORE PHOTOS

of Morgantown’s past, check out wvhistoryonview.org

High Street At the turn of the 20th century, a sleepy downtown thoroughfare known as High Street—dotted with Romanesque houses, horse-pulled carriages, and a few scattered businesses— transformed into a bustling stretch of small enterprises connected by streetcars. Homes gave way to opulent theaters and department stores while groceries became restaurants. Today High Street’s eclectic retail offerings, diverse restaurants, vibrant nightlife, and historic charm make for both a popular tourist attraction and a local’s go-to. As big chain shopping centers developed and online shopping took off, business owners have had to rework their strategies 96

MORGANTOWN • DEC/JAN 2016

to offer more specialty services and exciting food options, but the charm and history of High Street remain untouched. “The architectural features of the older buildings have been incorporated into many of the businesses, giving customers a feel for days gone by,” says Morgantown Mayor Marti Shamberger. “Do people still come downtown to not only shop, but to dine and be entertained? You bet.” Then & Now is published in partnership with WVU Libraries’ West Virginia & Regional History Center. wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu written by jennifer skinner