Coolfont closed for building of new resort & community
Coolfont Recreation closed on December 31 so its current facilities can be torn down in preparation for building a new resort and community. As of December 31, Coolfont's spa, pool, chalet and vacation home rentals and all other services were completely halted.
Coolfont's Treetop House officially closed last June. Since then, the resort has operated on a limited basis. The Carl M. Freeman Companies purchased Coolfont in November, 2005.
All present buildings except for the historic Coolfont Manor House will be removed next year as work begins on a planned resort community featuring 1,100 homes.
General plans for a 1,100 home resort consisting of mostly vacation homes and condos were announced in September after a week of meetings and workshops involving Freeman company officials, architects, planners, public service officials and community members.
The new Coolfont homes will be built in clusters to preserve green space and will be constructed over the course of 10-12 years. Groundbreaking is expected to occur in late 2007 or early 2008. Home types will include single-family homes, duplexes, town homes, condominiums and live/work homes. The community will feature single family "Tree Houses" designed for Coolfont's steep landscape.
The new Coolfont resort community will have a combination of public accessible services and private facilities, said Bob Marggraf, vice-president and general manager of West Virginia for Carl M. Freeman Communities. It will be a second home community with resort and retreat components that will complement the Town of Bath, said Marggraf.
Marggraf anticipated that Coolfont assets would be auctioned in the first quarter of 2007 with the beginning of demolition of the buildings on site to follow. He estimated that some homes would be constructed by early 2009 and 2010.
While there is no set completion date for the project, Marggraf expected the home construction to take around eight to 10 years, depending on the market. He said that the resort component would be the first phase completed.
Preliminary plans for the new resort community include fitness centers, a nature center, an outdoor amphitheater, a lakefront park, lakefront cottages, walking trails, horse stables, indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, an equestrian center, restaurants, a post office and a conference center.
The Carl M. Freeman Companies has not yet applied to the Morgan County Planning Commission for approval of their development plans or submitted their designs to the planning commission.
