Breaks park expanding lodging with new cabins
By: TERESA MULLINS / Staff Writer
Posted: Friday, February 27, 2009 1:16 am
BREAKS Five log cabins are under construction at the Breaks Interstate Park and will soon be available to rent.
The $1.4 million project is funded by a grant through Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority. The units include three two-bedroom cabins, one of which is handicapped accessible, and two three-bedroom cabins.
The log cabins are nestled near the edge of the parks lake. Green metal roofs stand in sharp contract to the oak coloring of the cabins. Each cabin includes a full kitchen, along with a hot tub on a screened-in deck overlooking the lake.
The amenities allow visitors to make the cabin their home for a week, park Superintendent Matt OQuinn said. In addition to weekly rentals, the cabins can also be rented by the night. Rental rates depend on the time of year, he added.
One of OQuinns first acts as park superintendent was to open the parks cabins, cottages and hotel for year-round rental. OQuinn took over the post after long-time superintendent Carl Mullins retired at the end of 2008.
And with the nations current economic recession, OQuinn is confident that park visitors can be offered a restful and fun-filled vacation at an affordable price. We have everything visitors need for a great vacation without leaving the park, he stated.
Employees of Torque Enterprises, a Buchanan County contracting company, are working diligently inside the cabins, ensuring they will be ready for rental in the next few months.
The cabins were designed by engineers at Thompson and Littons Clintwood office, OQuinn says. Although OQuinn wasnt at the helm of the park when the project got under way, he is very proud of the effort that has gone into it. I think its neat that work on the project has been done by organizations in both Dickenson and Buchanan counties, he stated Monday.
OQuinn expressed gratitude to VCEDA and Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority for making the project a reality.
Other lodging at the park includes 82 hotel room and one two-room suite. Six two-room cottages are also available for rent, along with 122 campsites. OQuinn said the park plans to build an additional five cabins sometime in the future.
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