John Dean
Contributing Writer
A pickle-themed reception will announce the grand opening of Watoga State Park’s revamped and reconstructed game courts Saturday, August 31, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Activities Center.
In addition to pickleball, other games and activities have been redesigned, installed and ready for use, including volleyball, basketball, shuffleboard, Four Square and disc golf. West Virginia native and five-time world champion Johnny Sias designed Watoga’s disc golf course.
The Labor Day weekend reception will feature appetizers of dill pickles, cheese, crackers, refreshments and more. Park employees and foundation volunteers will be available to answer your questions. All game courts will be open. For the last few weeks, during the park’s “soft” opening of the activities area, interest has been led by pickleball court inquiries, but shuffleboard players also had questions and their participant levels rivaled those of pickleball enthusiasts.
It is $10 per hour to rent pickleball equipment. Pricing for all games and activities, along with additional information about Watoga, will be available at Saturday’s reception. You can call the park office at 304-799-4087 for pricing for other activities or any other park- related questions.
Preliminary work for the new games area involved reviewing court designs, researching options for the new courts, and negotiating pricing for this major improvement.
Extensive repairs, including leveling, inspections, materials selection, fencing modifications and relocation and more had to be completed before the courts could be painted those vibrant blue and green colors you see from the road above.
Once designated teams were assembled, work began. After hundreds of hours of work, more details needed to be finalized and completed. Watoga State Park personnel were instrumental in the labor-intensive aspects of this project. The state park system and the foundation collaboratively funded the costs of the new activities area.
