MORGANTOWN – With the WVU women’s basketball team set to host NCAA Tournament games for just the second time in program history Saturday, Morgantown is solidly in the throes of the seasonal affliction known as March Madness.
For Morgantown motorists looking to get around town this weekend, Saturday specifically, a different kind of madness is liable to take hold, and the reasons for that stretch from the hardwood to prehistory.
“This weekend alone, there are nine events with an estimate of around 6,500 to 7,000 people that will be in and around Mylan Park and the Granville area. We have the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament this weekend. WVU Baseball has a game on Saturday,” Joe Vessecchia, operations manager with Visit Mountaineer Country CVB, told the Monongalia County Commission.
Outside of WVU athletic events, Mylan Park will play host to the Pennsylvania YMCA state swimming championship, expected to draw some 1,200 athletes and another 1,800 spectators over the weekend. The park will also welcome the Jurassic Quest dinosaur exhibit, which could draw as many as 1,000 visitors daily, Friday through Sunday. That’s all in addition to a baseball tournament on the park’s diamonds and an indoor tournament at Pro Performance.
Meanwhile, WVU Track is hosting some two dozen teams for a meet at Mylan Park on Friday and Saturday. WVU Baseball will wrap up a three-game homestand against BYU on Saturday with a 12:30 p.m. opening pitch at Kendrick Family Ballpark. And just up the road at the Hope Gas Coliseum, the WVU women will host opening round tournament games tipping at 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
“Exit 155 and that side of town this weekend is going to be extremely busy with lots of people moving around and a lot of things going on this weekend,” Vessecchia said. “I think major traffic times for all this is probably going to be from around 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. that day with PAYMCA and the NCAA basketball going on. So, lots of activity.”
In addition to increased traffic congestion, expect crowded restaurants, bars, stores and hotels.
Vessecchia explained the CVB works with WVU to secure hotel rooms for the traveling NCAA Tournament teams coming to town – in this case Kentucky, James Madison and Miami (Ohio), WVU’s first-round opponent.
But that work didn’t begin until last weekend, when WVU learned it would be hosting women’s tournament games for the first time since 1992.
“With all the other events and everything going on in town, we had to push teams out of the county. We pushed them to Bridgeport and Clarksburg,” he said. “It wasn’t truly a rooms problem; it was about meeting space. NCAA requires that we have a certain amount of meeting space. So, you know, we scrambled all weekend long to try to get them secured.”
He continued.
“It’s like the perfect storm, you know. We’ve got all these facilities that the CVB tries to sell. We did an amazing job of doing it, but now it’s like we’re busting at the seams to be able to handle it,” Vessecchia said. “I’ve talked with EMS and the sheriff’s department and everybody. Everybody’s fully aware. I just wanted to come before the commission today and get it out there once again.”
