Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
It has been a decade since the Northern Pocahontas Community Wellness board was formed with the main goal of raising funds to build a wellness center in Green Bank, next to the Green Bank Elementary-Middle School.
Plans were going smoothly, and funds were coming in and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. The board was unable to meet and, for a time, the wellness center plan was shelved.
But now, the board is back in action and ready to return to its goal. Board member Dr. Rachael Taylor said the board will host an open house, Monday, September 12, at 5:30 p.m. in the GBEMS cafeteria to get the public up to speed on the plans and relaunch efforts.
“In the past, we were working to get a new building built similar to what’s in Marlinton, but we’d like it to have a pool, a gymnasium and multi-purpose rooms right beside the school so that they could utilize it and get the best use for the community,” Taylor said.
The board has architectural drawings of the proposed building which will be on display at the open house. The event will also include a survey to see what the community wants in the wellness center and board members will be available to answer any questions.
“We made some pro-gress,” Taylor said. “We have these architectural designs now, and we’ve got approval for the land. We just need to jump back on and get some funding to get this building situated.”