St. Clairsville Recreation Department director Eric Gay informs city council that Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center and St.Clairsville Recreation Department are entering a partnership to bring more events to the city. (Photo by Gage Vota)

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center and St. Clairsville Recreation Department are entering a partnership to bring more events to the city.

Recreation Department director Eric Gay said theater classes, art exhibits and improv classes for both children and adults are some of the things that will be offered.

Gay said that a Beauty and the Beast play will be happening around Halloween and the Nutcracker will be returning for the holiday season.

He added that the Nutcracker at the Unified Bank Junior Rec Center this past winter was such a success that Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center Director of Dance Cheryl Pompeo decided to meet with he and Mayor Kathryn Thalman about the possibility of more collaboration this coming spring and summer.

“Obviously because of their reputation and all of the good stuff that they put out we are just over the moon that we get to host quite a few of theirs at our facilities,” Gay said. “People won’t have to drive all the way to Wheeling to see the events.”

He added that no dates have been confirmed but will notify the public once the dates are finalized.

In addition to the plays, classes and exhibits, Gay said that during the summer acoustic concerts at the Bike Trail, Oglebay will bring reptiles for the children to interact with. Gay said that the reptiles will provide entertainment for the children as the parents enjoy the concert.

In other news, Gay also announced that WVU Medicine has donated $70,000 for the city to build a playground at the Junior Sports Complex.

“We’ve always wanted to put a playground out there, but Judge Adam Myser approached me a couple weeks ago, and it just kind of kind of came out of nowhere that WVU medicine has offered to put in a playground for us out there,” Gay said. “With their donation, we’re going to be able to make this dream a reality.”

He added that the playground will be a very nice and sizable playground. Midstates Recreation will be hired to construct the playground and Gay is expecting a May start time for construction.

“We’re hoping for a mid May start date on the project. We just need this weather to completely get out of here,” he said. “I want to give our biggest thank you to WVU Medicine for just coming out of the blue to do this. We couldn’t be happier.”

Gay added that the playground will be a much needed addition to the Junior Sports Complex. He said that hundreds of people visit the complex due to the various baseball and softball tournaments that are hosted there.

“We have people from all over the county, from West Virginia, and from other counties. It’s a very, very busy place up there that has a ton of families and kids up there,” Gay said. “It’s going to be a really nice addition to an already beautiful complex.”