Senator Shelley Moore Capito made a stop in Elkins Friday to tour the ongoing construction of the Elkins Railyard Event Center.

The project received $1.25 million in Congressionally Directed Spending.

Sen. Capito supported the project through the appropriations process.

She says she believes it will aid the community.

“It’s beautiful. It’s got a theater. It’s got a big hall for events. You could have conferences, weddings, graduations. I think it really fills a need for the community as people visit here, and also, I just think the site, it has a real newness about it, even though it carries on the history of being in this historic rail yard,” Sen. Capito said.

The construction of the space is in it’s final stages and leaders say the goal is for the project to be completed by July 1.

They hope the event center will draw in more visitors to the area.

“We want the event center to be an anchor for tourism. But we really want the benefit to come to the local businesses, the hotels, the restaurants, and the other tourist attractions that we have. Draw them in and then allow the tourists to enjoy our beautiful community here in Elkins and Randolph County and this entire region of West Virginia,” Robbie Morris, Executive Director, Randolph County Development Authority said.

Overall, they say the project is a testament to working together.

“I get to see our communities all around the state that have needs and they just need, in some ways, they just need a jumpstart in the financing. And so, we were able to work with them to get some federal dollars to really jumpstart this project. And now, it’s going to be a landmark for the county and for the region. And that’s because we were working together, me as the federal representative working with local leaders, to get some of that federal dollars here. Bring it home,” Sen. Capito said.