MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — State Senators Mike Oliverio (R-Monongalia) and Charles Clements (R-Wetzel) stopped by University High School (UHS) Friday to deliver a check for $25,000 from an economic development assistance grant.
“Senator Charlie Clements from the 2nd senatorial district and myself from the 13th wanna really support this project,” said Oliverio. “So we hope to direct some local economic development assistance grant funding to this program over the next several months, to help them get around the bases and back to home and get this completed.”
This funding will be used by University High School to help develop the Ronald “Duke” Pride Sports Complex, which will include two baseball fields for softball and baseball usage. Oliverio told 12 News that the fields would include all of the amenities such as bleachers, concession stands, and dugouts.
According to Oliverio, the project has received a great amount of community support so far. Therefore, this donation is an effort to keep that community support coming to help the local high school complete this project.
“University High School here has a beautiful football stadium that was built in the same way, with community support, not by money from the school or anything like that,” Oliverio added. “So they’ve done this here before years ago. Hopefully we can do it again and have a facility that everybody can be proud of, and these student athletes can have a great place to play and compete.”
“It means a lot,” said Recent UHS Graduate Daniel Grabo. “It’s nice to see the support from the community on something that I’ve been very passionate about for my four years.”
Grabo stated that he came up through the program playing at Mylan Park, which he described as an amazing facility. However, he’s excited for student athletes to have access to that “home atmosphere”, which he said can be seen with the school’s football stadium and the tailgate events held there.
He added that many students who live around University High School and the surrounding Cheat Lake area must commute nearly 30 minutes to access the Mylan Park facilities. “But to be able to have this out here at the school, it’s pretty nice,” Grabo said.
The incoming WVU freshman grew up playing baseball since the age of three, Grabo told 12 News. He stated that Mylan Park was a huge help to him when he moved to the area in 2017 and played for the Morgantown Redbirds Baseball Club, and he now plays with Morgantown Post 2 Baseball, adding that they’ve always practiced there and that it’s a beautiful facility.
“I’m just excited to see the way that the people surround this area,” Grabo added. “It’s gonna be beautiful [for] baseball, softball, tennis, and then the walking trail. Maybe we can add even more on the other field over there, and I’m really excited to see it all.”
According to Senator Oliverio, July 1 marks the beginning of a new fiscal year in the state of West Virginia. Therefore, the West Virginia Senate and House of Delegates will have additional dollars, in hopes of providing a donation of a similar amount to this initiative in the coming months.
“I’m just excited to be here and play a small part in this,” said Oliverio. “The biggest part I think I can play is not just the state funding, but to encourage donors to support this project ’cause I think it’s a wonderful project that will be decades of service for the young people in our community and hopeful others will jump in on the project.”
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