DAVIS, W.Va. — Blackwater Falls State Park Lodge in Tucker County celebrated a grand reopening on Tuesday following the completion of a multimillion-dollar renovation project.
State officials including Gov. Jim Justice joined West Virginia Department of Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby were on hand at the brand new facility to also celebrate several additional major improvement projects at Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley Resort state parks.
“We’re making an investment here at the lodge of $5 million and who knows, who knows, how many $5 million that’s going to bring into West Virginia over, over and over again,” Justice said.
Justice referencing the $5.2 million invested in the lodge of the Blackwater Falls State Park. Other facilities in the park also received an upgrade, totaling the state investment at $6.85 million.
Canaan Valley Resort State Park is also nearing completion on $2.65 million in upgrades to its facilities.
Upgrades include a completely renovated lodge and cabin upgrades at Blackwater Falls and improvements to the tube park, ski area, cabins, and campground at Canaan Valley Resort State Park, a release stated.
The lodge at Blackwater Falls, which was built in the 1950s, has been updated. Guest rooms were refurbished, new suites were added, the lobby and public lounge were renovated, a new gift shop was added, and the Smokehouse Restaurant was remodeled, a release stated.
Other work at Blackwater Falls included renovations to the Blackwater Trading Company gift shop, a new camp store, the construction of a porte-cochère at the lodge, and ADA access improvements to the Sled Run building.
At Canaan Valley Resort, cabins were renovated, tube run lanes were expanded and a new magic carpet was added, the ski rental shop was renovated, and a new ticketing system for skiing was installed. Work is underway on campground and bathhouse expansions, a release stated.
More than $151 million in improvements have been completed or started at every state park and forest over the past five years.
“We’re wrapping up the $151 million in renovations but the governor is going to continue pushing us to grow and grow the state park system,” Ruby said during the ceremony.