Blennerhassett Island State Park will receive $300,000 to replace its aging service barge and tugboat, GiGi, which transport supplies and equipment to the West Virginia island.
The allocation is part of approximately $19.725 million in state park, forest and outdoor recreation improvements announced by Gov. Patrick Morrisey. According to the governor’s office, the vessels provide the only reliable means of delivering supplies, equipment and other goods to the island.
The existing 60'×20' barge is more than 50 years old, park superintendent Craig Pyles told the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. Originally built as a ferry operating between Powhatan Point, Ohio, and Pig Run, W.Va., south of Moundsville, it was acquired when the park was established in the 1970s.
“The barge itself is over 50-years-old, and we are having to nurse it along and baby it,” Pyles told the newspaper.
Although the Blennerhassett Bridge crosses the island, it provides no access to the park. The barge carries trucks, equipment, horses, concession supplies and other cargo needed to keep the park operating.
Park officials hope to obtain a replacement similar in size to the existing barge, which can accommodate two pickup trucks. Pyles said the current vessel’s condition restricts operations to certain river levels, limiting when crews can move cargo.
“So a new barge will allow us to run at different river levels, move more and be more efficient for the park overall,” he told Parkersburg News and Sentinel.
Pyles hopes the funding will cover a barge and pushboat combination. No delivery timeline has been established, and West Virginia Division of Natural Resources personnel and engineers are evaluating the project.
