FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – The former Hawks Nest State Park Golf Course has been donated to the Fayette County Firefighters Association for a firefighter training facility.
The state stopped using the golf course in 2014. Since then, the land has been owned by Brookfield Renewable, who donated the land to the Fayette County Firefighters Association earlier this year.
“I reached out to Brookfield Renewable and basically wrote them a letter asking if they’d be willing to lease the property to us,” said Fayette County Fire Coordinator Joe Crist. “I told them what we’d like to be doing. They got back with me and said, ‘we’ll make a donation to the Fire Association for the property.'”
This project is a group effort for all fire departments throughout Fayette County. Crist says that the combined work of these departments has gotten the project off to a smooth start.
“We’ve got 15-16 fire departments in the county,” Crist said. “Everybody has pretty much been jumping in and donating their time and equipment.”
There are multiple phases in creating this training facility. Phase 1 consists of preparing the facility to run Firefighter 1 and Firefighter 2 classes.
“The plan is, hopefully if everything works out, having a ribbon cutting by late November to start our first class,” Crist said. “That’ll be the end of Phase 1.”
Crist doesn’t foresee any notable challenges in completing Phase 1 going forward.
