The ongoing construction at the Charleston Civic Center might look daunting to spectators traveling to the capital for the West Virginia Boys and Girls High School Basketball Tournaments, but parking will remain the same as in past years.
So John Robertson, the Civic Center's general manager, says relax.
The Quarrier Street and Lee Street (Greyhound) parking garages will be open to visitors during the tournaments over the next two weeks. Additional parking might be available at the Charleston Town Center mall.
Drivers near the center should be aware of the new school bus drop-off location for teams because of the closure of Civic Center Drive.
The Charleston Police Department will assist with navigating a new drop-off location on Clendenin and Quarrier streets, in front of Beni Kedem and Fifth Quarter Steakhouse, according to a memo from the Civic Center.
The work that fans will see is part of an $87 million renovation project. Most of the work is being funded by a half-cent sales tax that began in October 2013 and also by a downtown Tax Increment Financing District. Renovations are expected to be complete by January 2018.
The result, city leaders hope, will ensure that the Civic Center remains a gem for events like basketball tournaments for years to come.
For some downtown merchants and hoteliers, the visitor traffic mustered by the West Virginia Boys and Girls
Basketball Tournaments is the closest Charleston comes to hosting the Super Bowl.
As 48 teams from around the state compete head-to-head over the next two weeks at the Civic Center, event organizers, tourism officials and business owners are preparing for the influx of out-of-towners.
The tournaments, hosted by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, will kick off with the girls' teams today and run through Saturday. Twenty-four teams from Class A, Class AA and Class AAA will compete this week.
While the Civic Center expects between 20,000 and 25,000 visitors at the girls tournament, the boys tournament, which runs from March 16-19, brings out far more spectators, Robertson said.
"A significant portion of the audience that books tickets are coming for the whole [boys] tournament," Robertson said. "They aren't as influenced by who the teams are; that's not the case with the girls tournaments, typically."
More than 60,000 fans are expected to attend the boys tournament next week, Robertson said.
The tournaments' economic impact over the next two weeks is something the Charleston Visitors and Convention Bureau looks forward to all year.
"We track hotel room nights, then we use standardized formulas that allow us to estimate visitor spending," said Tim Brady, vice president of sales for the visitors bureau.
The bureau estimates a total economic impact of roughly $750,000 from the boys tournament and another $300,000 from the girls tournament.
Holiday Inn Express General Manager Rusty Eaton said the tournaments are "one of our most robust times of the year."
"The boys tournament fills up not only the downtown hotel rooms, but even in South Charleston, Kanawha City and Southridge," Eaton said.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.