The Greenbrier Valley Aquatic Center is still waiting for new doors before it can open to the public.
In a newsletter to the public on Feb. 18, one of the facility’s founders, TAG Galyean, explained the opening was in the air due to shipping delays.
“Every day several enthusiasts ask, ‘When will the Aquatic Center open?’ I answer ‘I wish I knew,’” wrote Galyean. “By the end of this week we will be 100 percent ready, except we still don’t have 13 exterior storefront doors.”
In January, Greenbrier Valley Aquatic Center General Manager Darcie McCraw explained to The West Virginia Daily News that the facility’s opening timeline is not firm, and an opening date had not been set, but the facility was nearly complete.
“We are very hopeful for an early February opening,” said McCraw in January. “The plan is to have a ‘soft opening,’ where we will open with limited hours and gradually increase them as the staff gets acclimated. Again, those hours will be announced when we can officially announce the opening date.”
At that time, the crew hoped the facility would be open. However, as of the February update, Galyean expected their contractor is delayed through no fault of their own.
“Radford & Radford (Beckley) and their sub-contractor Eastern Door & Glass (Princeton) are as much the victims of these delays as we are,” wrote Galyean. “The door fabricator has changed the delivery date two weeks, every two weeks, for six months. Their issue is getting required components to fabricate. Temporary doors were installed in September so we could complete the building, but we can’t have public occupancy with those doors. The last date given for picking up the doors (yes we will go get them) is February 24, dependent on those components. Once here they should be installed in three days, and they will work the weekend if necessary,” Galyean wrote.
Galyean remains hopeful, however.
“The GVAC has been a magical project, so I choose to believe there may be a purpose in a delayed opening,” Galyean wrote. “The water and the staff are ready! Thank you for your support and your patience.”
Meanwhile, the Aquatic Center held a poll online to name their pool cleaning robot. The online contest took suggestions and gave a reward for the person who suggested the winning name.
“We had over 100 name suggestions for our robot which we narrowed down to four contenders. The votes are in and the robot’s name is R2Deep2,” reads the post. “Jason B. Morgan, please contact us to arrange receipt of your free Day Pass Token!”
Those looking for more information should view the Greenbrier Valley Aquatic Center Facebook page and read the “About” section or view their website at gvaquaticcenter.com.
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