INWOOD, W.Va. — It was the culmination of decades of planning, and hope, when the community met recently on the site of the future Inwood Park for a groundbreaking ceremony.
The park, which will be located in what is now a wooded parcel of land across the road from Musselman High School and adjacent to the W Randy Smith Rec Center, will be developed in phases.
The first features to be developed at the new park will include pickleball courts, a multi-use field, walking trail, disc golf course, and fishing pond.
Eventually, the 31-acre park could include a disc golf course, amphitheater, dog park, bike trails, playground equipment and splash park.
Last month, Lantz Construction Company of Winchester, Inc. won the bid for the first phase to the tune of $5.7 million.
According to the Berkeley County Commission, the project will be made possible through a number of funding sources including more than $3 million committed by commission. At the time of the groundbreaking, the commission had committed an additional $64,050 in matching funds for a bike trails project grant application.
Phase 2 of the project is to include construction of a splash park, amphitheater, dog park, mountain bike skill area, playground equipment, additional walking trails and pickleball courts.
The total cost estimate for the park project, including both phases, is projected to be about $13 million.
The first of three parcels were acquired for the park project in August of 2021 according to Strategic Planning and Communications Director Matthew Umstead, who shared the history of the site:
The future recreation site is in the vicinity of the original “Inwood Park,” which was established in the late 1800s near the Cumberland Valley Railroad (now Winchester & Western Railroad). Originally known as Strong’s Grove, the park was a popular spot for picnics, tent revivals, reunions, dances, and home of the Inwood Fair. At least a portion of the original Inwood Park was acquired by the C.H. Musselman Co. for an apple processing plant, which opened in 1921.
Asked whether he thought he’d ever see this day come, Berkeley County Commission President Eddie Gochenour, a South Berkeley native said, “I knew eventually we would, you know, but there were a lot of hurdles in between.
“But a lot of people that I named off are the people that helped make this happen. This is a great opportunity for this community,” Gochenour said.
Among those being thanked was Virginia resident John Good, who sold the land to the county at a discount. At last Thursday’s groundbreaking, Good told the Panhandle News Network, “We did a bargain sale. The county paid a lower amount and then I donated the rest so that the park could take place.”
“I own the property still next door,” said Good. “I live in Virginia but the people in South Berkeley are great people. (I have a) lot of friends over here. They’ve always been a really cohesive community. The fire department, the churches and so forth. And I just think the park was a missing link and I think this is going to help pull it all together.”
“I’m glad they were even able to add some additional land to it, which they announced today.”
Gochenour talked about the growth in his remarks at the groundbreaking, which took place across from Musselman High School. “We will grow our park at some point and we will end up with about a 30-acre park here, right in the heart of Inwood, right across from our high school.”
Before taking on his current role, Berkeley County Commissioner Steve Catlett was the director of the Martinsburg/Berkeley County Parks and Recreation Department for 45 years.
He talked about those who had come before.
“A longtime friend of mine and a Parks and Rec board member for over 30 years was Jerry Williams, who passed several years ago, and he’s looking down on us today and smiling. This was his home area right here. He was the South Berkeley representative on that park for 30 years, and I know he’s looking down and smiling at us.”
“In 2013, we opened the Randy Smith Center here in Inwood next to the high school, and it was a wonderful, wonderful thing that happened to this community.”
The W. Randy Smith Center was named in honor of its benefactor, who won the Powerball lottery and has used his winnings to give back to the community. The crowd giggled knowingly when Catlett said, “I want you to understand that this park is going to be as wonderful as that community center has been in this community. And guess what? We didn’t have to wait for somebody to hit the lottery this time to build it.”
Catlett’s successor, Joe Burton, had appeared on Panhandle Live earlier in the week and talked about some of the amenities planned for the Inwood Park.
On Thursday, he was grateful.
“Oh, we’re just so excited,” he said. “You know, this, part of the county has been dying to get some new amenities down here. This park’s going to have so much to offer.”
“This first phase is going to be wonderful when it hits the ground and I know the community is going to love it.
As to the potential for growth, he said, “Like you heard some of the commissioners say earlier, with almost 31 acres here, lots of room for growth. So if you look at the whole master plan, there’s going to be some fantastic amenities, but plenty of room for the community to tell us what they want in the future and to help make that happen.”
South Berkeley native Joyce Kees, like Gochenour, got emotional during her remarks as she talked about what the park could mean for the community.
“From tiny seeds grow mighty trees. But as a lifelong South Berkeley Countian and a true Appleman, I like to say from tiny seeds grow mighty apple trees and today the seeds are being planted and our orchard and this community will be forever and ever more fruitful. Thank you. We are all very, very blessed today.”
Kees was among those lining up behind ceremonial shovels for the groundbreaking. A half dozen big earth moving machines were their backdrop and would be pressed into service within the week to get the earth moving efforts going in earnest.
Kees runs a popular Facebook group for the community called the South Berkeley Social Club, aimed at “Sharing The Good Stuff In Our Town”
She talked about the “really, really, really good stuff that we’re sharing today.”
“Listen. Let’s go fishing at the Inwood park. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? And now because of this, we’re going to hear that for decades to come for so many children, so many families are going to make magical memories right here on the grounds that we’re standing on today.”
Said Gochenour, “I can’t wait for a year from now when we cut the ribbon. I want to be able to pull in here and hear children screaming and laughing and having fun. You know, and see children being pushed in their little baby buggies and you know, just having fun here. You know where we have a veterans here fishing in our fishing pond and just a wonderful place right here in the heart of Inwood. It’s going to be a very special.”
Berkeley County Commission President Eddie Gochenour credited former County Commissioners Doug Copenhaver and Dan Dulyea, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, Gov. Patrick Morrisey, former governor, now U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, Eastern Panhandle Regional Planning & Development Council (Region 9), as well as County staff and the project engineering firm, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc., for their efforts and support in helping make the first phase of construction possible.
The county was awarded $144,425 Chesapeake Bay Trust grant in June 2025 for constructing bioretention to manage runoff in the new recreation site. The project also received $1,125,000 in federal Congressionally Directed Spending, West Virginia Division of Highways TAP grant funding ($653,246) and an $800,000 grant from the West Virginia Governor’s Office, The County’s financial commitment for the first phase project includes approximately $2.8 million netted from a bond issue and more than $400,000 in matching funds for the various grant and funding awards received.