MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A Morgantown native who has worked in the city parks and recreation system since he was a teenager is now set to become the new Executive Director of BOPARC.
Members of the BOPARC board unanimously approved the appointment of current Division Director of Programs, Athletics, and Facilities Greg Travinski as the new executive director during their October meeting hosted at Morgantown City Hall on Wednesday. A Morgantown High School graduate who also graduated from West Virginia University, Travinski expressed gratitude to the BOPARC board after his appointment was given the formal go-ahead, where he was selected among 42 candidates as part of a nationwide search.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Travinski after the meeting. “I’m honored and blessed that they chose me to take over for that position, and I’m incredibly grateful.”
Travinski has worked under the BOPARC banner since he was 17 years old, when he originally worked as a camp counselor. Once he graduated from WVU, where he received a B.S. in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism after switching from criminology, all this while remaining involved in BOPARC operations. Once graduating, he found immediate full-time work in facilities management back in 2015, where he eventually worked up to a program director’s position, which included overseeing operations at the Morgantown Ice Arena, which will complete an approximately $3.1 million upgrade in the coming months. With decades of familiarity with BOPARC workings, from being a counselor all the way to program director, Travinski highlighted his passion, desire, and, more importantly, a plan to continue to see the system grow as part of the interview process.
“The interview process was super thorough, like they mentioned in there, they had 42 candidates, and it was a national search, so I really wanted to focus on my knowledge of our park system and our community and my experience with BOPARC,” said Travinski. “Along with my education and the opportunities that BOPARC has given me to further that along in my career as well.”
For members of the BOPARC board, Travinski stood out not only for his passion in working within the BOPARC system but also for his vast knowledge of how things operate. This was applied to not only the improvements seen at the Morgantown Ice Arena but also the athletic field programming that has taken place over the course of several years. Added to his longtime experience working under longtime Executive Director Melissa Wiles, board members felt they made the right choice as he went through the virtual interview process with six candidates, ultimately being selected out of two finalists that sat down for in-person interviews.
“He blew us away, honestly, he has a passion and a knowledge for parks and recreation, specifically the BOPARC system, that was unmatched,” said Morgantown Mayor and BOPARC Chair Danielle Trumble. “We’re very excited to see him step into this role after having grown up in the BOPARC system.”
As the new Executive Director of BOPARC, Travinski expects to be busy as soon as the transition period is complete with Wiles, who will retire by early December after serving 22 years in the position. Once he takes over the position, he will not only continue oversight of athletic facilities and programming at BOPARC, but he’ll also oversee projects such as the freshly green-lit Lower Marilla Park Improvement Project, which received formal approval by the Morgantown City Council to move forward on an $11 million bond issuance to support construction. With that level of development ongoing for the BOPARC system, Travinski appears ready to get to work.
“We have a lot of capital projects going through right now, and I look forward to completing those under the supervision of Melissa and then working with her for a smooth transition,” said Travinski.