photo by: Kailey Carpino

The former Jamboree In The Hills site is currently being used by FirstEnergy Corporation for a project that will upgrade local power lines.

The former Jamboree in the Hills site is currently being used by FirstEnergy Corporation for a project that will upgrade local power lines. Will Boye, senior communications representative at FirstEnergy, said that one of the company’s contractors reached an agreement with property owner Roger Barack to use the property as a laydown site to store materials for a transmission line project.

This property, located at 43510 National Road in Belmont toward Morristown, has more than 210 acres. It once hosted the iconic Jamboree In The Hills for more than four decades, bringing more than 200,000 country music fans to the site every year. Jamboree In The Hills ended in 2018. Since then, the Barack family of Bellaire purchased the site for $1.3 million in 2021.

In this project, American Transmission Systems Incorporated, a FirstEnergy subsidiary, will upgrade 20 miles of a 138-kilovolt, high-voltage power line in Belmont and Harrison counties to strengthen the regional transmission system. As part of a larger 64-mile transmission line project, the rebuilt power lines will enhance service reliability, improve system resiliency and accommodate increasing customer demand for electricity in the future.

Boye explained that the project includes replacing wooden poles with new steel monopoles and installing larger wires that can carry more electrical load and accommodate greater customer demand. The project will traverse St. Clairsville, Richland Township, Mead Township, Pultney Township and Wheeling Township in Belmont County and Athens Township in Harrison County.

Boye said that the work is expected to be completed in late 2024.

The project is known as Holloway-Knox phase five. Boye explained that the project is in its fifth phase geographically speaking, but it is the third phase in the company’s construction schedule.

American Transmission Systems Incorporated is using the former Jamboree In The Hills site while they work on the southernmost portion of the project in Columbiana and Belmont Counties.

“With these infrastructure upgrades, our transmission lines can better withstand the effects of severe weather, reducing the number of service interruptions experienced by customers in eastern Ohio,” said Carl Bridenbaugh, FirstEnergy’s vice president of transmission. “The work will also help advance development in the region to meet the growing demand for safe and reliable power for many years to come.”

ATSI provides transmission services in Ohio and western Pennsylvania and owns or maintains more than 8,100 miles of transmission lines, substations and other facilities.

Since the disbandment of Jamboree In The Hills, a nearby campground has been converted to host the Blame My Roots Country Music Festival. The festival, held at the Valley View Campgrounds, took a break this summer and is scheduled to return in 2024.