Committee Substitute

for

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 40

(By DELEGATES VANCE, MALLOW, DEVAULT, ELLINGTON, TONEY, MARPLE, ADKINS, T. CLARK, HECKERT, ANDERSON, BRIDGES, BROOKS, BROWNING, CLAY, CROUSE, DEAN, ELDRIDGE, FERRELL, FLANIGAN, HANSHAW (MR. SPEAKER), LUCAS, MARTIN, PARSONS, PRITT, ROHRBACH, ROOP, STEPHENS, WARD, ZATEZALO, Campbell, and Dittman)

[Originating in the Committee on Energy and Public Works; Reported on March 20, 2025]

Requesting and directing the West Virginia Economic Development Authority to locate and identify land in the Flatwoods area suitable for development into facilities for public entertainment, amusement and tourism, identify and secure sources of funding for their development, and to also solicit and locate private as well as public developers to invest in the facilities.

Whereas, The Town of Flatwoods and the surrounding areas are centrally located in the state with interstate highway access via Interstate 79 to many of the state's more populous regions and towns, including Charleston, Huntington, Fairmont, Clarksburg, Morgantown, Parkersburg, Beckley, and Fayetteville and the New River Gorge National Park; and

Whereas, There are multiple undeveloped real estate sites in the proximity of the Town of Flatwoods and Exit 67 off Interstate 79 that would be suitable for development of facilities for public entertainment, amusement and tourism; and

Whereas, Most states bordering or near West Virginia have at least one major facility providing entertainment, amusement, and tourist attractions, including Pigeon Forge in Tennessee, which has numerous venues of attractions; Kings Island and Cedar Point in Ohio; Williamsburg and Busch Gardens in Virginia; Hershey Park, Kennywood and Idlewild in Pennsylvania; Jolly Roger Amusement Park, Great Wolfe Park and Adventure Park in Maryland; and Carowinds and Carolina Beach Boardwalk in North Carolina, as well as many other similar venues; and

Whereas, These entertainment, amusement, and tourist attractions generate significant economic investment and development, jobs, and infrastructure as well as spawning supportive economic development, including restaurants, motels, hotels, and other public accommodations for tourists visiting these facilities. These, in turn, generate significant economic benefits for the adjoining communities as well as the entire state in which they are located; and

Whereas, There are no similar facilities located in West Virginia of the size and stature of the ones cited above in surrounding states; and

Whereas, Flatwoods and surrounding areas as well as all of West Virginia would benefit by the development of a complex of entertainment, amusement, and tourist attractions and facilities in central West Virginia similar to those facilities in surrounding states recited above and accessible via Exit 67 on Interstate 79, and which would be conveniently accessible to West Virginia citizens as well as out-of-state visitors from surrounding states; therefore, be it  

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the West Virginia Economic Development Authority is hereby requested and directed to locate and identify land in the Flatwoods area suitable for development into facilities for public entertainment, amusement and tourism, identify and secure sources of funding for their development, and to also solicit and locate private as well as public developers to invest in the facilities; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the West Virginia Economic Development Authority, the Secretary of the Department of Commerce, and the Governor of West Virginia.