On October 27, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin announced that GAI has been retained by the State as the economic development, infrastructure, and land use master planner for the 12,000-acre Hobet surface mine site—newly renamed Rock Creek Development Park. Dubbed the “gateway to growth and revitalization in southern West Virginia,” Rock Creek Development Park will environmentally restore and repurpose the 50-year-old former coal mining site to new uses and point the State forward into new forms of economic growth, jobs, and community. View the Governor’s full announcement here (17:14).
“Governor Tomblin and his development team should be commended for such forward thinking. Their desire to think broadly about the region’s future is impressive, and GAI Consultants is honored to be associated with such an important project. Rock Creek represents a paradigm shift in thinking about how the region’s social and economic wellbeing will be fostered in the future. A project of this scale has the potential to set a national standard for the adaptive reuse of a brownfield site and, as it unfolds, will prove to be a catalyst for positive change in the lives and economy of not only the citizens of southern West Virginia, but for the entire region.”
Additional Resources:
West Virginia National Guard to locate at former Hobet surface mine
Hobet project gets new name and National Guard investment
