Ahead of a passage vote on legislation authorizing bonds for improvements to the West Virginia Science and Culture Center, delegates took a tour.
The Culture Center, a jewel of West Virginia arts and history, has seen better days.
“The Culture Center is about to turn 50 years old. So this July will mark the opening of the building 50 years ago,” Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby told lawmakers as she began a tour requested by the House of Delegates, starting with the grand hall.
“This building is huge. I know all of you are here on a regular basis, and you probably are for the most part in this room or in the theater. But the building is about 180,000 square feet up to 240,000 if you’re looking at the theater space as well.”
And throughout there are problems that come with age.
The building is not adequately insulated and suffers from water intrusion in several areas, including roof leaks.
The existing mechanical system is at the end of its life. That includes the air handling units, heating water system, distribution pumps, distribution system and building control system. The electrical system is unreliable outdated and inadequate for the building’s usage needs.
The plumbing system needs a complete replacement. Now there are leaks, water damage and inoperable fixtures like water fountains.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, who took the tour of the Culture Center, said the need is clear to protect historic documents and to maintain the building as a beloved asset.
“This is an important building for the state of West Virginia. This houses some of the most priceless collections in our state’s history, and we need to make it a priority,” said Hanshaw, praising Gov. Patrick Morrisey and Tourism Director Chelsea Ruby for making the preservation a priority.
“We appreciate that commitment to preservation of our state’s history and our culture. This is a building that’s used by people of every stripe of society, from professional researchers, professional geologists, world class performers to young people at elementary schools who are coming here on field trips for the first time. This building needs to be a showcase.”
House Bill 5685 proposes a financial plan to fund major improvements, authorizing the Economic Development Authority to issue up to $150 million in revenue bonds to cover the costs of repairing, equipping and maintaining the facility.
The legislation establishes a dedicated Cultural Center Improvements Revenue Debt Service Fund.
The House of Delegates is set to vote on the bill on Wednesday, which represents the crossover day deadline to move legislation from one chamber to the other as the regular session nears its end.
“We do have on our calendar for passage a bill that’s intended to give the executive branch one option for how it might proceed with these restorations and repairs. That’s a bill to authorize a bonding mechanism to do long term financing for these repairs and structural upgrades,” Hanshaw said.
“That’ll be a decision totally for the executive. We just want to give the executive branch another option on how it might approach the very needed and very necessary repairs.”
West Virginians from all walks of life are taking an interest. Sara Busse, a Charleston resident, accompanied lawmakers on the tour. Her father, architect Howard Johe, was a partner at Silling Associates and designed the Culture Center.
“I was fortunate enough to be able to crawl around in the excavated area and climb the scaffolding and watch him talk to the experts about this building,” Busse said.
“Fifty years ago, this was top of the line, cream of the crop, the whole nine yards. Fifty years is a long time, and it’s really sad to me to see some of the things that have been let go. This is a jewel.”
Busse said the building clearly needs love and attention. “And the precious items in this building — I remember my dad saying to me that these are the most precious things of West Virginia history. They were really cognizant of that when they built this building.
“I hate to see what’s happened. It breaks my heart.”
She was gratified that lawmakers are taking an interest in getting the Culture Center back in shape.
“Seeing these legislators here and people from the administration here, wow, that was encouraging to me because it wasn’t a downer; everything’s falling apart,” Busse said. “It was: here’s what has to be fixed, here’s what has to be fixed. And that’s what is encouraging because I don’t think those conversations happened for a good 20 years.”
