Mud-bog racing and other motor sports events could be among the first income-generating activities for the new owners of the old Weston State Hospital.

On Saturday, city and county officials and personnel from nearby Sharpe Hospital and Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital have been invited to attend a test run of a mud-bog event, involving five large trucks, to provide an idea of what noise levels would be.

Mud-bog competitions would be staged on a hillside far behind the grounds of the 192-year-old hospital and downtown Weston.

"It will be to the side of the water tower, at the farthest point of the property from downtown Weston," said Rebecca Jordan, spokeswoman for Morgantown asbestos contractor Joe Jordan, who bought the hospital last August during a public auction on the Lewis County Courthouse steps.

Jordan paid $1.5 million for the 455,725-square-foot sandstone hospital building, originally known as the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, and a surrounding tract of 306 acres that includes a hardwood forest and former farmland and coal mines once operated by the mental hospital.

If Saturday's noise test goes favorably and the Department of Environmental Protection issues a needed permit, the first mud- bog competition would take place on May 3, and continue on an every-other-Saturday basis, Jordan said.

"We've been getting calls and e-mails from all over the country from people interested in coming here" to compete in the mud-bog races, Jordan said.

"We think the races could draw anywhere from 300 to 1,000 people. The businesses in town would be affected immediately."

Mud-bog racing and other motor sports events could be among the first income-generating activities for the new owners of the old Weston State Hospital.

On Saturday, city and county officials and personnel from nearby Sharpe Hospital and Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital have been invited to attend a test run of a mud-bog event, involving five large trucks, to provide an idea of what noise levels would be.

Mud-bog competitions would be staged on a hillside far behind the grounds of the 192-year-old hospital and downtown Weston.

"It will be to the side of the water tower, at the farthest point of the property from downtown Weston," said Rebecca Jordan, spokeswoman for Morgantown asbestos contractor Joe Jordan, who bought the hospital last August during a public auction on the Lewis County Courthouse steps.

Jordan paid $1.5 million for the 455,725-square-foot sandstone hospital building, originally known as the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, and a surrounding tract of 306 acres that includes a hardwood forest and former farmland and coal mines once operated by the mental hospital.

If Saturday's noise test goes favorably and the Department of Environmental Protection issues a needed permit, the first mud- bog competition would take place on May 3, and continue on an every-other-Saturday basis, Jordan said.

"We've been getting calls and e-mails from all over the country from people interested in coming here" to compete in the mud-bog races, Jordan said.

"We think the races could draw anywhere from 300 to 1,000 people. The businesses in town would be affected immediately."

Motocross and ATV racing also are being contemplated for the hospital property, as is BMX bicycle racing.

Jordan said competitors' vehicles would be hosed down thoroughly before they are allowed to leave the hospital property and travel on city streets. Racing hours would end by 6 p.m.

"We want the support of the community before we do this," she said. "We want all of us to grow."

The mud-bog events and other racing activities are viewed as a temporary income-generating stream, which the Jordan family hopes will help them raise $5 million needed to replace the historic hospital's roof and remove asbestos from its basement.

Long-range development possibilities for the site include converting the hospital into a historic hotel and perhaps a casino.

The new owners have renamed the property the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.

"When people see that, they remember it," Jordan said.

To contact staff writer Rick Steelhammer, use e-mail or call 348-5169.