Published: May 05, 2008 09:56 pm         

Tamarack

Now we're really scratching our heads

To say we were a little taken aback late last week — after West Virginia Parkways Authority chairman Joe Martin took a shot at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center, and then proclaimed that the state has no intention of taking over at Tamarack until something is done about the facility’s $1 million annual deficit — is putting it mildly.

In fact, there is nothing mild about Martin’s remarks; they really fall more in the order of “He said what?” We can’t be the only ones scratching our heads.

Before we delve into the state’s supposed takeover at Tamarack, let’s address this matter about the former Raleigh County Armory being competition for Tamarack.

“I was surprised to see that Beckley spent a substantial amount on a convention center,” Martin stated. It was reported he was troubled that local leaders were establishing any entity with “the potential of reducing dollars that would flow to Tamarack for the use of similar facilities.”

He can’t be serious, and if he is, his knowledge of the situation isn’t slim to none, it’s none.

Tamarack’s fine convention center facilities are going to remain plenty busy, and if that’s what Martin and others are banking on to make the place profitable, then they have a huge problem. And at the same time the convention center off of Eisenhower Drive (aka the armory) isn’t going to run Tamarack out of business. Has Martin even visited the former armory facilities in the recent past?

If that wasn’t enough, the matter of when Tamarack will be transferred to the state Department of Commerce surfaced as well.

Gov. Joe Manchin said last year, after an independent study was performed, that Tamarack would be better off with a state agency operating it rather than the Turnpike Authority. You know, just handle the roads and we’ll do the rest.

Now, Martin said nothing is going to happen as far as a transfer of power and operation until Tamarack’s annual operating deficit of $1 million is wiped out. Isn’t that what the state was supposed to do, take it over and fix it so it runs in the black?

Commerce Secretary Kelly Goes said Monday no timetable has been set for Tamarack but she wants a smooth transaction.

Everybody is hoping for that, but it seems like the effort in Charleston to wrestle Tamarack away isn’t quite so urgent anymore.