Sep. 3, 2002 -  WESTON, W.Va. -- The new, $50 million Stonewall Resort at Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park, its opening twice delayed in the past two years, is now being readied for an October debut. 

Resort officials, who recently hired the first 30 employees for what will eventually be a staff of 200, say the Oct. 1 opening date is firm. 

"We've got so much momentum going toward our opening," Jeff Kmiec, the resort's marketing director, said as he weaved his way through an army of workers installing flooring, wood trim and lighting in the huge post-and-beam lobby of the 196-room lakeside inn. 

"We've had a very successful job fair, we've hired our first group of employees, and we've hired our executive chef and our food and beverage director," Kmiec said. 

Dale L. Hawkins, the executive sous chef at Glade Springs resort under Chef Robert Wong and the former executive chef and innkeeper at Deerpark Country Inn at Buckhannon, is the new executive chef at Stonewall Resort. Bryan Forsythe, the food and beverage manager at Canaan Valley Resort, has been hired as food and beverage manager at Stonewall. 

The opening of the resort's Arnold Palmer signature golf course went off without a hitch this spring, with Palmer himself taking part in festivities. Since then, more than 3,000 rounds of golf are being booked at the course each month, and the park's new luxury rental cottages have racked up a 95 percent occupancy rate. 

"Visits to the park are already up 126 percent from last year, I think due mainly to interest in the resort," Kmiec said. "We've booked a lot of group business from October through next year, but we won't start making reservations for individuals for another two weeks, when our reservation system comes online." 

Heavy rains in 2000 disrupted lodge construction for several months, delaying the planned opening of the resort from the summer of 2001 to July 2002. Problems that delayed the delivery of construction materials, disrupting the planned sequence of building activity, are blamed for postponing the resort's debut until October. 

"I know that some people were disappointed that we weren't able to open in July," Kmiec said. "But I tell them it will be well worth the wait. In October, we will open what will clearly be the region's finest resort. This will be the flagship for tourism in West Virginia." 

Work is nearly complete on two wings of the inn, where rooms are being furnished with beds, drapes and other post-construction amenities. Chandeliers were being installed in the inn's main ballroom, and a huge stone fireplace is ready to warm guests in the lobby. 

The lodge is situated on a finger of land jutting into a section of 2,000-acre Stonewall Jackson Lake, giving every room a view of the lake. 

A pool that stretches from inside the lodge to the open air of a lakeside patio is nearly ready for filling. Outside the lodge, landscapers are grooming the grounds to remove traces of construction activity, and completing plantings of shrubbery and grasses that blend with the natural foliage of the site. 

A huge, state-of-the-art kitchen has been installed in the base of the lodge to serve a 150-seat restaurant, a 65-seat lounge, and eventually, a 120-seat, deck-equipped restaurant at the golf course pro shop. The pro shop building, scheduled to get under construction this fall, will be the final installment in the first phase of the resort's development plan. 

Long-range plans include an additional 30 guest cottages and a second campground to augment what has become the most popular campground in the state park system. 

A new trail riding outfitter, Rugged Cross Trail Rides, has opened for business less than one mile from the park entrance, with plans to cater to resort guests. 

"We hope it's the first of many businesses the resort will help create," Kmiec said. Stonewall Resort encompasses 2,000 acres of land, which in turn are surrounded by an 18,000-acre state wildlife management area. The property is laced with old gas-well access roads ideal for trail riding. 

The resort will eventually offer fishing, hunting and mountain biking outfitting services. 

Stonewall Resort is managed under an agreement with the state by Benchmark Hospitality, which also manages Glade Springs Resort near Beckley. Its construction is being financed through a public-private venture between the state of West Virginia and McCabe-Henley-Durbin LP of Charleston. 

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(c) 2002, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.