HINTON, W.Va. — Hinton Mayor Jack Scott gets a gleam in his eye when he starts talking about the prospects for his small town’s riverfront. Hinton sits on the New River only a short distance from the Bluestone Dam. The town’s proximity to the New, Greenbrier, and Bluestone Rivers along with Bluestone Lake makes it an ideal draw for what Scott calls a “natural water park.”
“We want to promote kayaking and access to the river. We’ll have a bathhouse and bathrooms and greenspace for our community along with a sandy beach. We also plan on developing the area around this park,” he said.
Scott and his city council hosted a number of state leaders, including Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin to break ground on the Batteau Beach at Hinton Landing this week. It’s a two acre piece of property with river frontage where the city will construct a park, riverfront stage and amphitheater, and a beach with full river access.
Nearby buildings are expected to be transformed into private economic development.
“There’s some adjacent property and the owner is willing to develop it into housing, higher end housing along the river, which makes a lot of sense,” he said.
Across the road from the now open field stands an old industrial facility owned by West Virginia American Water Company.
“It was a water intake plant and at one time generated power and even made ice. It was called the old ‘mud and juice plant.’ We think it screams to be a brewery and pizza place adjacent to the park,” said the Mayor.
Scott said there is already a developer ready to move ahead with the idea and discussions with the water company are in progress.
Work on the park itself is expected to be completed within a year. Scott said the private development and work on other nearby infrastructure will take longer and require additional grants and investment. He expected it would take close to a decade to reinvent the town.
“This community was built as an industrial community even though it sat here on this beautiful river. Now 150 years later, we realize our future is not industrial, it’s the acceptance of the National Park and adjacency to it and the fact that God has given us three rivers and a lake,” said the Mayor.