Published: September 06, 2008 02:17 am      

‘Stab at the community’s heart’

Fire considered deliberately set to delay opening of HealthPlex

WHITE HALL — An early-morning fire Friday that damaged the interior of a still-unfinished $13 million health fitness center was deliberately set, officials said.

Fairmont General Hospital’s new HealthPlex Fitness Center at the Middletown Mall was on schedule to open Oct. 21, FGH President Albert Pilkington III said.

The hospital is posting a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

“It’s going to push back the opening, for sure,” Pilkington said late Friday afternoon. He went through the three-story building with state fire and police investigators.

“We’re an organization known for coming back from the ashes. We’re not quitters,” he said. The facility will be repaired, finished and open to the public, he said.

Officials with March Westin, the hospital’s contract manager, are beginning to assess the damage, Pilkington said. He hopes to have cost estimates to give to hospital board members later this month.

Pilkington got to the scene about 4 a.m.

“The firefighters did a fantastic job. They got on it quick and the damage is manageable,” he said.

Whether there was any serious structural damage is unknown, he said.

Without disclosing any evidence, Pilkington said investigators and he believe the fire was intentionally set.

“We’re going to create 40 to 50 new jobs with this complex. Whoever did this was taking a stab at the community’s heart,” he said.

Police said a person at the Sunoco gasoline service station on U.S. Route 250 across Interstate 79 from the mall reported the fire at 3:08 a.m.

The individual said he could see flames “on top of the roof” of the fitness center, said Detective Shawn Mathews of the Marion Sheriff’s department.

Mathews and Assistant State Fire Marshal Mackey Ayersman are investigating the fire.

Volunteer firefighters from Valley, Winfield District, Boothsville, Monongah, Bunner Ridge and Barrackville also answered the alarm. The Fairmont Fire Department sent its new ladder truck.

The Marion County Rescue Squad sent an ambulance, but no injuries were reported.

With more than 50,000 square feet of space, the building will hold a four-lane lap pool, a heated therapy pool and a large workout area.

Several of FGH’s outpatient departments are set to move into the building when it opens. The facility will host the departments of occupational therapy, physical therapy, and cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.

E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.