First batch of rock for Park Place scheduled to arrive Friday

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — South Charleston officials are anticipating the arrival of a rock barge, which will contain stone to cover part of the 40-acre Park Place Plaza shopping complex.

The first of three barges is slated to arrive Friday; crews have been working on clearing vegetation at the site for the rocks to be put out.

Park Place Plaza is located at the former site of the FMC fly ash pond.

“When you see work going on over there, it becomes real,” South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens said. “We’ve been working on this and planning it for almost three years now, and so when you see that kind of activity, it starts to get real.”

Crews will begin placing rock over the 40 acres, creating a 24-inch layer of drainage stone. Mullens said the contract for the stone is worth around $9 million.

“That’s a lot of rock,” he joked.

Crews will not be putting the stone out on Friday; Mullens noted the rock is coming from outside the state.

“It’ll be stockpiled in an area and ready for us to use when we’re ready to put it down,” he said.

Mullens said project and city officials hope to finish laying out the stone by March 31. The shopping center is slated to open in early 2022.