RONCEVERTE, W.Va. (WVVA) – After a year of plans and procedures, the City of Ronceverte’s Parks and Recreation Department has completed a comprehensive plan for one of its parks.

Dan Withrow is the Director of the Ronceverte Parks and Recreation Department. For the past twelve months, he has been constructing a plan to rebuild and beauty Island Park, which sits on the very edge of the Greenbrier River.

“This park and what we are doing here is for everybody,” Withrow said. “It’s not just for a handful of people.”

Some improvements are already in the works like a new playset, improved amphitheater and nine-hole disc golf course; however, other infrastructural changes- including the bridge that leads from the main road to the park- may take years to complete.

“You’re probably looking at $4,000,000 to $5,000,000, but we’re gonna, you know, just the old theory of how you eat an elephant: one bite at a time and that’s what we are going to do. We are focusing on the things that are less expensive, the things that we know we can get operational as soon as possible and just grow from there.”

The project will take time and resources, but when all is said and done, Withrow believes Ronceverte will become a springboard for tourism in the Mountain State.

“That park development, that park and all the amenities that we can add will truly be an economic driver, not just for the town of Ronceverte but it will benefit White Sulphur, benefit Lewisburg,” Withrow explained. “This is about this area. This is about the state of West Virginia.”

Leaders with the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau in Lewisburg say they have been watching what is happening down the river in Ronceverte and are excited to show it off when the time comes.

“Any time that we see improvements happening, especially like the growth we are seeing in Ronceverte right now, that just builds up another asset for us to promote,” shared Communications Manager for the visitors bureau Valerie Pritt. “They’re putting all of this investment into creating great parks and we’ll be able to, here at the visitors center and the visitors bureau, be able to send people down to Ronceverte.”

The first wave of changes to Island Park will be seen as early as spring. In the meantime, the Parks and Recreation Department in Ronceverte has other ideas to boost tourism. Within the next few months, they will be opening new businesses and introducing new festivals.

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