Community members gathered to attend a Community Open House on Tuesday, July 14 at Brad Paisley Community Park in White Sulphur Springs to learn project updates, gather input on programming, and celebrate progress toward the opening of the future Greenbrier Valley Community Center.
Since the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Greenbrier Valley family activity center project, much work has been underway to listen deeply from the community, plan with the long term in mind, and consider the community’s greatest needs.
Significant community input
Nearly 250 residents have taken part in a community needs assessment in addition to inputs from focus groups, and interviews with families, teens, seniors, caregivers, educators, and health and economic development leaders over the last several months. That input – paired with regional public health and economic data – has informed the facility name announced today and is shaping the center’s design and programming around three goals to help all ages thrive in the Greenbrier Valley by:
• Improving physical and mental health;
• Reducing isolation and strengthening belonging; and
• Building confidence, independence, and life
engagement.
A Center with Community at its core identity
One message from the community came through clearly and repeatedly: this must not be a place for just one group, or just one purpose. Participants described wanting a community hub first – a welcoming, accessible space neighbors across all ages can simply be together – where seniors can have coffee after a class, a teenager can find a safe place to land after school, a parent can attend a wellness program while their child is engaged nearby, and youth and adults alike have more opportunities for indoor recreation.
Guided by input from the community, the project is now ready to announce its name – the Greenbrier Valley Community Center. With community center as the anchor of its identity, this reflects what it truly is: a place for all of us. While the center will sit in White Sulphur Springs, it will proudly serve White Sulphur Springs and nearby towns that make up the Greenbrier Valley.
The Greenbrier Valley Community Center is partnering with organizations including the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center and many more expected.
A New Site
The future community center will move to a new, flatter site near Food Lion on Route 92 – directly across from the original ground-breaking location. The site change follows further engineering review of the original parcel, which included a hillside and stream that posed some accessibility challenges. The new location will allow the Greenbrier Valley Community Center to be more accessible to visitors of all ages. Site work is expected to begin later this summer, with construction continuing through 2027.
Building Campaign Update
The project is committed to building the facility debt-free. More than half of the $5.5 million construction goal has been raised in the campaign’s silent phase, and organizers are now entering a broader fundraising phase to seek additional donations and grant opportunities as well as a future endowment. A scholarship and sliding-scale access model is planned to keep membership affordable for all residents. The Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation serves as the fiscal partner for the project and donations may be made by visiting their website at https://gvfoundation.org
About the Greenbrier Valley Community Center
The Greenbrier Valley Community Center is a new, community-driven facility being built to improve health and well-being, strengthen community, support youth development, promote healthy living and aging that serves Greenbrier Valley residents of all ages throughout the year. Once open, the Greenbrier Valley Community Center will offer accessible recreational, fitness, and wellness programming; spaces and events that reduce isolation and foster connection; youth development, active living and healthy aging programs that build confidence and resilience; with opportunities for community education, mentorship, and engagement across all generations.
Guided by significant input from the community, the Greenbrier Valley Community Center is being developed in collaboration with local health, education, and community organizations – including the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and with the Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation serving as its fiscal partner – to serve White Sulphur Springs and the surrounding Greenbrier Valley for generations to come.
