HINTON — A historic industrial center is set to become the home of a park that will improve access to the New River in the Hinton area.

Batteau Beach at Hinton Landing is a project to revitalize a river landing at the site of a former industrial center in the Avis community. Batteau is an Americanized spelling of the French word bateau, a long, flat-bottomed boat historically used for river transport in Eastern and central North America.

The architect of the project, Buckhannon-based Bryson VanNostrand, said the new park will feature a clean, manicured beach with bathhouses, a concession stand, picnic shelters, a pavilion and a large circular lawn.

“Everyone should be able to come down here and think of this as their house on the river,” VanNostrand said.

The project has been in the works for three years, but the idea goes back many decades, Hinton Mayor Jack Scott said at a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday.

“Former mayor Cleo Matthews began to beat the drum about Batteau Beach and the possibility of what we could do down here many decades ago,” Scott said. “That continued to keep it going.”

Along the way, the project received help from West Virginia University, through the Fulcrum Project, as well as the Region 1 Planning and Development Council and the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, along with many others, Scott said.

“Three years later, we’re turning dirt down here,” he said. “That doesn’t always happen on projects of this magnitude.”

Scott said the total cost of the project is estimated at $1 million, with half of the money coming from a federal appropriation and the other half coming from local funds.

The city’s Public Works Department is contributing a great deal of work to the project, Scott said.

“This is not just a job for them,” he said. “They are as enthusiastic about getting this job done for the public as we are.”

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who attended Monday’s ceremony, said they were happy to direct the funds toward the project.

“I am excited to see the beginning of what will become a great park for West Virginia families and sportsmen to use,” Capito said. “The facilities here will make this place a destination for those who visit the Mountain State, especially the New River Gorge. I am looking forward to seeing the park completed and the benefits it will bring to the Hinton community.”

Manchin applauded Matthews for her tenacity in pushing the project over the years.

“Cleo would, at least once a week, explain to me what I was doing wrong. Then she would correct me and put me back on course,” Manchin said. “I’ve spent a lot of time here, and I intend to spend a lot more. I’m going to see this develop. I know Shelley and I will come back when you have so many things going on.”

VanNostrand said that, to appreciate the importance of a river park in Hinton, it helps to understand the area’s history. He has worked on projects in the community for the past 20 years, including the nearby passenger station and freight depot.

“Hinton is kind of controlled or dominated by two primary forces — one, of course, is the river, and the other is the railroad — and that’s the way it’s been for 150 years, basically,” he said.

Access to the railroad is easy; anyone can go to the passenger station for a closer look at the trains, VanNostrand said.

“You can touch them, even though you’re not supposed to,” he said.

Getting to the river is not as easy, VanNostrand said.

“It’s just kind of a circumstance. The railroad came through in 1874 and really kind of cut off river access to the whole town,” he said. “From the passenger station down is 2 miles of rail yard.”

The river beach is a natural access point that was used by freight boats “before West Virginia was even a state,” VanNostrand said.

“This little part we’re on really is the industrial district, you might say, of Hinton, historically,” he said.

The area was the site of a water plant, several foundries, a lumber yard and logging dock, a grain mill and other industries, all using either the rail yard or the river to transport their freight.

But that presented a problem, because, “unless you happened to have an island out on the river, there really weren’t a lot of beach opportunities,” VanNostrand said.

All of the strategic plans developed over the years in Hinton made reference to the need for development along the river, he said.

“We’ve got this river here and no one’s taking advantage of it,” he said.