Greenbrier County Schools receives more than $1 million for new stadium lighting, basketball courts
By Matthew Young, RealWV
GREENBRIER COUNTY, W.Va. – During separate ceremonies held Monday at each of Greenbrier County’s two high schools, Gov. and Senator-elect Jim Justice announced that more than $1 million would be making its way to the county to renovate athletic facilities at both schools.
“When we invest in resources like this, we are helping our kids succeed in and out of the classroom,” Justice said, while noting that the funds will be used to replace the gymnasium floors in both Greenbrier East and Greenbrier West High School, as well as the exterior stadium lighting at Greenbrier East.
“Both schools have desperately needed new floors for a while, and I’m proud we’re finally able to make it happen,” Justice, who also serves as girls basketball coach at Greenbrier East High School, added.
While speaking with RealWV on Tuesday, Greenbrier County Superintendent of Schools Jeff Bryant spoke of the needs for renovations, specifically highlighting the condition of Greenbrier East’s gymnasium floor.
“It’s had some issues over the years,” Bryant said. “The biggest issue was last spring. I’m not sure how this happened, but it did happen – a lot of water got inside that gymnasium. And you know what water does to a gym floor – it starts warping it and everything else.”
As for the exterior stadium lights, according to Bryant, they are no less than 25-years-old.
“The lighting quality over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed, has just gotten very poor,” Bryant said. “There’s a lot of dark spots on the field and the track.”
“The county is not in a position to fund (these projects), so I made a written request to the governor’s office, asking them to consider releasing some grant funds.”
Greenbrier East High School will receive $654,568 to replace the exterior lighting and gymnasium floor, while Greenbrier West will receive $371,450.
“The gym floor at Greenbrier West High School is actually the original gym floor from 1968,” Bryant explained. “It’s way past the normal usage of a gym floor.”
Bryant said that after consulting with his athletic director and the completion of a “needs assessment,” the decision was made to seek funding for the projects.
“We’ve been talking about this for quite a while now – the needs,” Bryant noted. “So, we all said, ‘Well let’s submit a proposal,’ and the governor’s office was kind enough to grant our request.”
Bryant hopes that the projects will get underway by late-spring, adding, “The goal is that we will have the floors and the stadium lights installed and operational by the start of the 2025-2026 school year.”
