New maintenance building under construction at Seven Bends State Park in Woodstock, VA.  Article by Melissa Topey, The Northern Virginia Daily | Jan 30, 2019

Demo work begins at Seven Bends

Demolition work has begun at Seven Bends State Park.

The first phase of work was to begin in July but was delayed because rains this spring and summer caused flooding.

On Monday demolition crews took down an old farmhouse and an old barn, both near the entrance to the park.

Chief Ranger Thomas Stevens said equipment was moved into the park last week but flooding of a bridge prevented crews from beginning demolition work until Monday.

The work has been contracted to Lantz Construction and the demolition work subcontracted to Algers Excavation.
“Any wood that is salvageable has been salvaged. Most of the wood is rotted with termites,” Stevens said.

Wood and material that can be salvaged will be reused. Otherwise, it will be burned or hauled away, he said.

Work on the park has been ongoing. The construction of a new maintenance building is 70 percent complete and Stevens was working on clearing trails.

Phase I includes demolishing 14 old buildings on the park’s 1,066 acres of land, building two hand carried boat launches with a nearby picnic shelter, and creating multi-use trails, such as for hiking.

More buildings, including some in the former Camp Lupton area of the park, are scheduled for demolition next week, Thomas said.

The park is scheduled to open to the public in spring 2019. No vehicles, ATVs or motorcycles will be allowed in the park.

Since 2015, Virginia has been working on obtaining funding for improvements to the park, which is located on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. The first phase has been budgeted at $2.2 million, with the entire plan budgeted at $43 million.