Ravenswood Renaissance Debut Podcast

Episode Transcript

(00:13):
Welcome to Ravenswood Renaissance podcast, exploringthe past and building the future of Ravenswood,
West Virginia. Here's your host,Mayor Josh Miller. Thanks for having
me on this podcast. I gota former mayor of Parkersburg, Bob Newl
here with me. He has beena crucial piece to this marina development.

(00:39):
He's done similar things in his pastand thank him for being on here with
me as well. And as wetalk about this marina project, there have
a lot of things going on downin Ravenswood. But yeah, the first
thing that has been completed now isthe Great Ben Marina, which is on
the Sand Creek just at the confluenceof the High River. So, Mayor,
if you can just tell everybody whatyou know, when you think the

(01:00):
opening may be and what the campgroundsand boat dogs feature. Well, we're
definitely shooting for the spring of twentytwenty four, which is right upon us.
You know, these have fourteen modernizedcampsites, you got water and sewer
hookups wi Fi, I mean youhave. It's the deluxe version of camping,

(01:21):
and we've got about ten boat slips. This is the first phase of
the marina project and this thing hasbeen talked about in Ravenswood since back in
twenty fourteen and twenty fifteen, andthis council, you know, and with
your help, Bob, we wekind of took a vision and made it
into reality. We just we pushedthis forward. And I couldn't be more

(01:44):
proud of what this group has accomplishedbecause we had a lot of folks that
said, there's no way Ravens wasgoing to make this happen. And it
excites me to do things that peoplesay we can't do. And you're going
to face your challenges. But uh, I think people as we we have
these developments come in the industrial developmentstime at it's going to be a global

(02:05):
aerospace hub and this is going tobe a place where people want to be
and want to hang out. Andthere's gonna be hundreds of millions of dollars
floating, you know, flowing intoRavenswood. So I think Ravenswood should have
always been a rivertown, but Ithink this group has solidified that. And
to see these marinas or these boatslips come up, these campsites we've got,

(02:27):
like I said, the deluxe version, we also have the Hey,
you can come up and pitch atent and rent a spot for a night.
So we've got you can rent nightly, you can rent weekly, you
can rent monthly. Same for theboat slips and campsites. So we were
providing something that that hasn't been providedin Ravenswood in this area for quite some
time, and it's it's been longawaiting and now it's here. Well,

(02:50):
I think a lot of people don'trealize that Ravenswood sits on the what they
call the Racine Pool of the HigherRiver, which is between the Lee Tard
Dam and Bellville, and it's aroundfifty four hundred acres of water and home
to a lot of fishing tournaments.And actually Ravenswood has the only public launch

(03:12):
really with facilities along that entire poolof water. Talk a little bit about
the fishing tournaments that they have eachyear. Well, a few years ago
I was approached by an organization calledBass Nation and they wanted to see if
I mean they were aware of,you know, the great Bend there in
Ravenswood, which we'll probably talk abouthere at some point and how that's unique.

(03:36):
But Bass Nation they came to meand they said, hey, we
want to host a couple of tournamentshere because they've heard us talking about with
the DNR putting new I don't knowthe word. I'm not a big fisherman,
so I'm not a water guy.Believe it or not, we're doing
all this stuff. I'm not awater guy. That's my brother. He's
a big muskie fisherman. So wewere talking about what type of species of

(03:59):
fish we could put in there andeverything. And then again I was introduced
to Bass Nation. And now wehad the state high school championship and it
was a junior high championship there.There were hundreds of families there. That
was so unique to see. We'vegot Monday night bass fishing tournaments every week
in Ravenswood during the spring and summer. I mean, it's just it keeps

(04:19):
growing and growing, and I thinkthat's a result of doing marketing like this,
but also doing what you say you'regoing to do. We've brought what
we said we're going to bring,and folks want to be there now.
They want to be a part ofthat. There's other events as well.
Each year for several years, Ravenswoodhas hosted the powerboat Racing and hope to

(04:41):
continue that this year, I assume. Yeah, now that's our deputy Mayor,
Jared blox and he's now the onerunning the Ohio River Festival. I
hope they continue that. We'll findout more when we approach our budget here
in March. I would love tosee that continue. I mean, we've
got the Ohio River Festival, We'vegot the Great Been Museum that got the
Institution of the Year in twenty twentythree, and that thing's only been up

(05:03):
and running a year and a half, two years, you know officially.
I mean there's all kinds of sites, and I know, as a mayor,
I've got to be biased. Andthat's why I came back here because
I wanted to help grow Ravenswood.But even it has exceeded even my expectations.
And I'm a very ambitious person.So to see some of these things

(05:25):
kind of happen so quickly, Imean, it's exciting. I just think,
well, what's next, what arewe doing next? And that's that's
what right now, that's what makesit exciting being mayor of Ravenswood. What's
next? Well, and getting backto the campgrounds in the Marina, just
briefly, because it is complete andshould be opening, like you said,
in the next several weeks. Youknow, besides the hook ups, you

(05:46):
were able to acquire a pretty nicefacility for the comfort of the campers as
well. Yes, and the donorof that facility wants to remain anonymous,
which which will honor. But it'sa it's a nice shower and bathroom facility.
It'll be eighty a accessible. Imean, I walked in there and

(06:08):
I'm like, man, I likethis better than my own bathroom. I
can take a shower here every morning. But so again, that's just something
it's amazing to see when you whenyou do what you're say you're going to
do, the other folks that kindof jump in and say, hey,
we're going to help. So we'vehad a lot of that, and again
we're going to face our challenges.We're going to have hiccups. You know,

(06:30):
we're trying to implement this online reservationpiece for the Great Bend Campgrounds.
I just ask folks to please bepatient with us as we go through this
process because the next few years thisis going to be a state of the
art facility, and it is rightnow, but we're going to have our
growing pains and I just hope peopleare patient with us and they just enjoy

(06:53):
the moment here and work with us. And I want to thank everybody that's
helped make this happen so far.Well, they the name Great Bend was
your idea. I mean, Iknow that it originates from someplace, but
it was important to you to havethe Great Bend in the name of this
entire facility, both on Sand Creekand the Higo River. Yeah, I
can't I can't say I'm gonna takeMaybe I can take credit for pushing the

(07:16):
name Great Bend, but it camefrom a gentleman. I believe everybody knows
his name. It's George Washington referencingthe Great Bend. So I can't really
take credit for it. I'm notgonna take it away from the first president
of the United States. But hey, I thought it would be a good
hashtag. It's a good marketing tool. And really, I know we're on
a podcast here, so we can'treally see photos and things like that,

(07:40):
But if you look at a photoof the Great Bend from an aerial drone
shot, it is one of themost beautiful scenes. And I've been all
over this country. It's one ofthe most beautiful, you know, aerial
shots that you'll see, you know, outside of looking at Yellowstone, the
Rocky Mountains, things like that.I've been out west, I've saw all
those beautiful places. To see thatGreat Bend and that beauty is just something

(08:03):
that takes your breath away. Sothe Great Bend just seemed fitting. We
had some back and forth, butthat just fits Ravenswood. And one of
the partners in this, of course, is under the City of Ravenswood is
a Ravenswood Development Authority, and youknow, if you could talk a little
bit about their property, because theyhave a nice piece of property as well
that you're trying to link to whathas formerly been known as Washington Lands Park.

(08:28):
There's a lot of organizations we havewithin the City of Ravenswood that's made
this project successful. We have ourBoard of Parks and Recreation. But talking
about the Ravens with Development Authority,the city acquired a piece of land what
would it be north south south ofthe Riverfront Park and we thought that that

(08:48):
would be a unique place for additionalcommerce that wasn't included under the Department of
Interior deed and all the stipulations thatwent with that. So the RDA was
approached by a few business is withthe concept of building a commercial building that
could be used for anything from restaurantsto a welcome center. So a lot

(09:09):
of that those pieces are underway rightnow, a lot of them. A
lot of folks have heard about thesmoke House pavilion. I believe that that's
going to happen. We're going tohave a restaurant on the river similar to
what the Wildhorse was in Palmroy whichno longer exists to my knowledge. But
it's it's it's exciting to see.Again. I don't want to continue to

(09:30):
reiterate, but I do think it'simportant when when you make things happen,
other people step up with ideas andmake these things happen as well. And
the RDA has stepped up their gamealong with parks and rec and now again
we're not only going to have boats, campsites, docks. Now we're likely
going to have a modern facility that'sgoing to have a restaurant with you know,

(09:50):
modern equipment overlooking that great Bend andit's just going to be a beautiful
site. And I think that placeis going to once it's constructed it's going
to be there for the next hundredyears. Yeah. The other project that's
underway that I think should be mentionedas there is going to be a bridge,
and part of the appropriations has alreadybeen awarded by Congress. But there's

(10:13):
going to be a bridge that finallyallows safe passage for pedestrians and golf carts
from Ravenswood into the Riverfront Park.You know, you know what stage is
at at at this point, thishas probably been the thorn in my side
of all the projects because, asyou know, we were awarded, always

(10:33):
messed this number up. It wasaround eight hundred and ten to eight hundred
and twenty thousand in federal earmarks,and then you know, with COVID and
everything happening, inflation, costs ofgoods, you know, those prices for
that project skyrocketed, and for theentire project, it went from an eight
hundred and twenty thousand dollars project maybea million, it shot up to about

(10:56):
one point six. And that's beenthe struggle. I won't start a project
without being fully funded. I don'tbelieve that's fiscally responsible. So you and
I have been you know, turningover rocks trying to find some cash here
and there, right, Bob,So, but no, in all seriousness,
I think that the State of WestVirginia and the FEDS are going to

(11:18):
step in again to assist us andhelp us get that project done. Because
why that's important is what you weresaying. It's a safe access point.
And if you haven't been the Ravens, what it's hard to understand, but
you can't walk to Riverfront Park withoutgoing down the main highway. This project
right here will allow you to godown a side street to have a safe

(11:39):
pedestrian bridge access our beautiful Riverfront Park. And that's why it's so important,
a safe access point. And italso connects to our downtown commercial area and
that's going to help prop up businessas your boaters and folks come in here
because they can not only see thepark now they can walk to your downtown
commerce and you know, go toyour teach shops and your other restaurants and

(12:01):
the things that are coming. Soit's all connecting the dots and we're almost
we almost have that puzzle piece complete. Well, Berkshire Hathaway has been a
game changery. This All these projectswere started before they even announced or before
there was an inkling something like thatwas coming. But how has that changed
the game plan? What challenges doyou see for Ravenswood in the future with

(12:26):
you know, hopefully the influx ofa lot more people. Well, I
can tell you this. It keepsme up every night now and my blood
pressures went up quite a bit.But here's the here's the deal, and
this is what I tell our citycouncil all the time. And I go
and I talked to UH. Ido have a point to this. I
go around, I talk to studentsabout uh business endeavors and things like that,

(12:48):
and I always ask them, what'sthe toughest thing you're ever going to
face as a business owner or justany endeavor you face. And a lot
of the kids say failure. Youknow, they talk about all these challenges,
but they never think of this.You know, the answer is success.
And I've said this numerous times incouncil. The hardest challenges you're ever
gonna face are success because you're goingto face new expectations. People are going

(13:11):
to expect what's coming next, youknow, growth and all this excitement.
This brings a whole new set ofchallenges because you know, how's our banks
and some of this might be boringto some folks, but how's our banks
going to help lend money to thesesmall businesses that are coming in. Because
when someone like Berkshire Hathaway comes inand you're creating a global aerospace of it

(13:33):
changes everything. So a lot ofthings like that keep me up at night.
It's like, what's next? Don'tI always feel like I'm not doing
enough? So and that's where thecommunity is going to have to come together
and figure out what our plan andvision is. And as you know,
we've finished our recent comprehensive plan.We've had a housing study released where in

(13:54):
the next five years we're gonna havefifteen hundred direct jobs that are probably gonna
be seventy five thousand a year,and then you got six thousand indirect jobs,
which is your you know, yourservice sector industry. So we're just
gonna face a lot of challenges andI'll be honest, there's a lot of
them I don't have the answer forright now, but it's a good problem
to have. We're getting back tothe campgrounds and Marina. Do you have

(14:18):
an actual date when it's going toopen? Yeah, we actually had a
walk through a couple of days ago, and we came up with April first.
And I promise you we're not tryingto joke people with that, but
it's there's still a few things wewant to get done to feel comfortable moving
forward. Like I said, we'regonna face a lot of challenges. This
is new to everybody, but I'mI'm super excited on these campgrounds in the

(14:41):
marina. I know, that's whywe're here today. So we're going to
the rest of this time we're onhere, We're gonna we're gonna keep our
focus on that. Bob. Iknow you've had some experience with the marina
and the water what just from andI know I'm supposed to do most of
the talking here, but I wantto hear from you, you know,
seeing this thing transform. We whatwhat's your mindset on this from the beginning

(15:01):
to the end, and just whatare your thoughts on what's happening in Ravenswood
with this campground and marina site.Well, you know, I think,
well, first of all, Ravenwoodhas one of the best lay of lands
along the river. I mean,it doesn't have a flood wall, and
yes it floods occasionally but not often. But nevertheless, uh, you know,

(15:22):
the view of the rivers is alwaysyou know, something that can be
seen from when you're passing through Ravenswoodand and certainly again that pool of water
is is pretty significant. You know. Again there's a lot of a lot
of boats in that area. That'sa big kayaking area, which which you
don't see in most other cities alongthe river. And so it's got a

(15:46):
great future for for anything dealing withthe water. The the other part,
you know, it's uh, firstof all, I have to give kudos
to the Army Corps of Engineers becausethey've been extremely helpful in this. I
know, lot of times, youknow, government agencies can stand in the
way a bit, but in thiscase, the Corp of Engineers has been

(16:07):
very cooperative. They've you know,anytime I've submitted something, they've given step
by step and instructions on additional informationthat's needed. The turnaround has been quick.
I mean from the time from thetime we applied for permit with the
Corp of Engineers, it was lessthan two years later that the doc was

(16:29):
actually in the water. And youknow, a lot of times it just
seems to take much longer. Notdealing with government agencies, but not with
the core. Well that's where Iwant to give you kudos as well,
because you know, I'm excited aboutthe government organizations working well with us,
but you definitely helped make a lotof that happen with the experiences that you
had, and that's why you're you'reon board because you know how to make

(16:52):
these things happen, and you know, just just for some insight here,
we had some soft openings last yearand allowed camp campers to come in and
some boaters. So we had aboat at one of our slips from a
lady from Texas. I think wehad one from North Carolina. So I'm
very excited to see how this kindof unfolds because it is a little bit

(17:17):
nerve wrecking. You're like, Okay, we're going to this thing going to
be full. This year is goingto be half full. So when I'm
doing my budget, I'm saying fiftypercent capacity for the year for our revenue
stream. That's my projection. That'sjust because I'm very conservative when it comes
to that stuff. But I doanticipate over the next two or three years
our slips are going to be full, our camp sites are going to be
full because we're gonna have contractors everywherejust to start and as all this,

(17:42):
like I said, hundreds of millionsof dollars floating in. This is the
type of stuff people wants to doin this area. They want to get
on the river. Again. I'mnot a river person, I'm not a
water person in general, but Iknow what this stuff brings to an economy,
and it's just exciting to see peoplefrom all over the country and all
over the region coming to Ravenswood andenjoying these waters. And I've and I

(18:07):
know this this is a little offtopic, but it's important. We've had
people see some of our commercials andads and things like that that have moved
here from New York, Las Vegas, California. That's the that's the exciting
stuff that I want to hear,and we've been hearing it a lot lately.
So I just I want people tostay optimistic. I think this is

(18:30):
going to be a great thing,and these these campsites and marinas we're going
to continue to expand we've asked forappropriation requests for additional slips where we can
have daily Reynolds. We're gonna putslips in front of this new restaurant when
it's constructed in the new building.Uh So, there's there's so many projects
on the horizon. It's exciting andit's also again one more time, kudos

(18:52):
to Bob. It's it's great tohave someone that's had experience in this realm
because he's he's been crucial to helphim make this stuff happen well. In
the arena on the Ohio River,of course, it's going to, like
you said, consist of boat slips, you know, with a commercial entity
like a restaurant, but also theada accessible kayak launch will be right beside
of it. But more importantly,it'll be very visible coming across around thirty

(19:17):
three bridge. It's the first thingpeople coming from a high is going to
see when they look over the sideis Ravenswood and Marina and a lot of
things going on. I think it'llit'll make a big difference to the city
because when they come across that bridge, they it ends in Ravenswood. They
have to get off in Ravenswood andthey now can make the choice to go
further into Ravenswood and explore a littlebit. Yeah, and you mentioned real

(19:40):
quick you mentioned I know we don'thave a lot of time left. But
you mentioned the kayaks and things likethat and people enjoying that that they don't
get to do that in a lotof other places. Folks that know me
well enough is I'm a very eventdriven individual. I like hosting festivals.
I think it's good for the localand regional economy. So for the folks
that are interested in what's going onhere in Ravenswood, I want you to

(20:02):
start being on the lookout for anytype of kayak related events. And as
Bob mentioned, with the Ohio RiverFestival in the boat races, you're gonna
start seeing some more of that typeof event series, and I think that'll
get a lot of people excited andget them out on the water, family's
friends just to enjoy themselves. Sothose that have interest in what's happening in

(20:23):
Ravenswood in the river be on thelookout for those events coming up over these
next couple of years. You've beenlistening to Ravenswood Renaissance podcast exploring the past
and building the future of Ravenswood,West Virginia. Find it on your iHeartRadio

(20:45):
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