The Tri-State Transit Authority (TTA) in Huntington, WV, recently celebrated the opening of its newly renovated headquarters, which added a second floor to the authority’s existing administrative headquarters and upgraded technology and accessibility throughout the facility.

The addition, which cost almost $2 million, provides extra room for several offices, a boardroom, and expanded dispatch centers. In the past, TTA used the general manager’s office as the training room and boardroom.

TTA General Manager Paul Davis explained that the new construction is actually a separate building standing above the original structure built in 1974, which was not strong enough to bear the weight of a second story. Several large “stilts,” some of which were integrated through the first floor, support the steel frame of the second floor. A space of about three feet remains between the two floors, accessible for maintenance by a small door in the stairwell.

“Without knowledge of the architecture, it appears, internally and externally, as though it is one large building,” Davis explained. “The ‘stilts’ are inconspicuously integrated throughout the building.”

TTA funded the new facility with $1.23 million from FTA, $341,000 in local funds, and $308,000 from the state. The agency covered any remaining construction needs and contingency.

Speakers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony included Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), ranking member, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Susan O’Connell, director, West Virginia Division of Public Transit.

In response to O’Connell’s announcement that public transit in West Virginia provides more than seven million rides each year, Rahall said: “That’s seven million trips to and from work, to and from stores and businesses, and to and from doctor’s appointments, school trips, and college classes that improve the health, wealth, and minds of our people …. Having a vibrant daily operating public transit system makes a heck of a difference.”

Cutting the ribbon for the newly enlarged TTA headquarters are, from left, Susan O’Connell, director, West Virginia Division of Public Transit; TTA Assistant Manager Jennifer Woodall; Huntington Mayor Steve Williams; TTA Board President Robert Bailey; Rep. Nick Rahall; TTA General Manager Paul Davis; and TTA Board Members Randy Moore, Mary Neely, Bernard Queen, and Rebecca Thacker.