New WVU Baseball Stadium Clears a Major Hurdle

News broke earlier this week of the approval of tax-increment funding (TIF) of the proposed West Virginia University basbeall stadium in Granville. Approval of the TIF by the Monongalia County Commission was essential to move the project forward in terms of financing and legal processing.

Stadium Conceptual Design. CREDIT: wvusports.com

With the TIF now approved at the county level, the matter of the stadium funding will have to pass the final hurdle in the state legislature in February.

The stadium itself is proposed to be completed by February 2014 at a cost of $16.2 million and will be coupled with a new interstate exit. That work would cost an additional $24 million and could be completed as soon as August 2015. The proposed exit would be placed along Interstate 79 between the Westover (exit 152) and Star City (exit 155) exits to better streamline access to the stadium.

West Virginia’s move to build a new baseball stadium shows that the Mountaineers are firmly committed to fielding a quality program. The Big XII has a great tradition of fielding teams that compete annually for the college world series, a tradition that the Mountaineers are looking eagerly to become a part of.