The Mountain East Conference announced the sites for its 2017-18 championships on Monday, and the league's men's and women's basketball tournaments will be staying at the Charleston Civic Center for at least one more season.
The tournaments will continue to be hosted at the Civic Center after a process in which bids to host it were put in by both Charleston and Huntington.
This year's men's and women's basketball tournaments will take place from February 28 through March 4.
"We're looking forward to building on the improvements we made to last year's tournament with an opportunity to keep doing that in the coming year," Senior Assistant to the Mayor Rod Blackstone said. "We've been working with the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau, our host committee and our hospitality committee since the tournament ended to talk about how we can make it better for next year when we put the bid together."
After the bid process initially began with the intentions of finding the tournament's home for the next two seasons, with an option to host in 2020 as well, the decision came down to have Charleston host in 2018 before going back out to bid again after this season.
The issue moving forward comes in the 2019 tournament, where the MEC's preferred dates for the tournament interfere with the WVSSAC's high school girls basketball tournament that is also slated to be at the Civic Center.
"That became a scheduling conflict and that's one of the reasons, I think, that it's a single-year decision," Blackstone said. "Once the conference determined that their preferred dates were a priority for 2019, that made it harder for us to make the argument for a three-year deal.
"The conference will address what it needs to do, we're not sure at this point what that is going to be yet, but we've talked about some different options. At this point that's the plan. We're trying to keep the door open for longer than just the single year if possible."
Heading into last year's MEC tournament, the city made a big effort to improve the overall experience for the fans and the schools. Blackstone said that one of the key things they are looking at this year will be to continue to build on the momentum from the things they have made better in recent years while also pushing forward to address things that they could improve.
"Our goal is to build on the progress we made in 2017, make the 2018 event the best one in the history of the conference and leave a strong, lasting impression that will make everyone associated with the Mountain East want to come back to Charleston every year they can," Charleston mayor Danny Jones said in a statement. "I especially want to thank Dr. Ed Welch, President of the University of Charleston, for his candor and wisdom as our hospitality team has discussed ways to make this even as effective and enjoyable as possible in our city."
MEC commissioner Reid Amos was unavailable for comment due to meetings in Indianapolis on Monday, but said in a statement that the league looks forward to "the continuing efforts by the city that help to highlight and promote the high level of competition by the men's and women's teams in the MEC."
The MEC men's and women's golf championships will be held from October 9-11 at The Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels. The women's tennis tournament will be held from October 20-22 while the men's championships will be from April 20-22 at the Brian David Fox Tennis Center in Huntington.
The Bridgeport Recreation Complex will host the MEC men's and women's cross country championships on October 21.
Beckley's Linda K. Epling Stadium will be the site for the league's baseball championships from May 10-13 while the softball tournament will be held the week before that at the James I. Moyer Complex in Salem, Virginia.