Marthan H. Moore Riverfront Park

Marthan H. Moore Riverfront Park. . Martha H. Moore Riverfront Park was developed in the aftermath of the devastating flood of May 2002. Several buildings along McDowell Street in the downtown area were damaged repeatedly to an extent that some of the structures had to be demolished for safety reasons rather than being repaired again. The City Council and Mayor of Welch had several goals to utilize the newly emptied space in the downtown area. The city wanted to create a space that would display vision and imagination; enhance the quality of life for residents, visitors and businesses; develop a visually pleasing environment for the downtown area that not only included green spaces with access to the river for recreation, but also streetscape improvements which would emphasize and play off the historic value of the City; and connect the new downtown development with Linkous Park, a more traditional park that includes tennis courts, swimming pool and miniature golf, skateboard park and walking train. , The designers felt that it was necessary to preserve some of the existing elements of the site. Therefore, during construction, the foundation walls of the razed structures were left in place to provide additional historic character. In addition, remnants of a basement in one of the razed structures was transformed into an amphitheater rather than being filled in. The project was designed to withstand flooding and make flood cleanup simple and quick. In fact, the new park successfully withstood flooding during construction resulting in minimal cleanup and loss of contractor time. Improvements to the park were designed to complement the existing historical downtown. The park embraces the Tug River and its effect on the city rather than ignoring it or fearing its periodic flooding. , The park received the 2009 General Design Honor design award from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). The park was designed by the staff of Triad Engineering of Dunbar, West Virginia. Joe Young was the landscape architect on the project and presented the project in completion. The park was completed in 2009 and named by Welch City Council for Mayor Martha H. Moore, whose inspiration and tireless work brought the project to completion.