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Daily
News Record Massanetta Springs Plans Renovation By Tom Mitchell The 97-year-old hotel, which is part of the Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center, has served as a Presbyterian Church ministry for more than 80 years. Fred A. Holbrook, executive director of Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center, said Monday that the structural improvements are needed to modernize the facility. "By the time we're finished rehabilitating this building, we will have a beautiful hotel," said Holbrook. A public information meeting is set for today at 7 p.m. in the lobby of the camp and conference center, at 712 Massanetta Springs Road, said Holbrook. Tonight's meeting is one of 43 such sessions scheduled for communities in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Delaware over the next four to five months, Holbrook added. All five states fall within the Mid-Atlantic Synod, or the middle governing body for Presbyterian Church-USA. In addition to the camp and conference center's annual bible conference, the facility hosts several youth conventions and various meetings for churches, schools and civic groups in and outside Rockingham County. Massanetta Springs draws and average of 23,000 guests a year, Holbrook said. Much-Needed Work Interest increased in April 2005, when the Virginia Department of Historic Resources added 122 of the 161 acres where the camp and conference center are situated to the Virginia Landmarks Register. Two months later, the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service included Massanetta Springs on its National Register or Historic Places. Holbrook said that the camp and conference center plan to remodel the hotel next spring, and finish the project by fall 2009. Massanetta Springs contracted Nielsen Builders of Harrisonburg to do the remodeling. Frazier Associates from Staunton is the architectural company for the project, said Holbrook. Work on the hotel will address the top two floors of the four-story building, with a focus on improving the 44 rooms, said Allison Dugan, director of marketing promotion and sales for the camp and conference center. Upgrades also will target bathrooms and the hotel kitchen, and a new meeting room will be added on the first floor, Dugan added. "This rehabilitation will present a return on he investment, because we will be better able to accommodate a wide range of groups," Dugan said. Ups and Downs The complex began with the hotel's construction in the early 20th century. James R. Lupton, a Harrisonburg hotel owner, built the Massanetta Springs structure in two stages, in 1910 and 1912, Holbrook said. Lupton ran the hotel for eight years before closing it. The camp and conference center acquired the hotel, reopening it in 1922. The hotel closed for three years in 1988, in what Holbrook called "a period of uncertainty" regarding the future of camp and conference center on the part of synod leaders. Beth Smith, who co-chairs the major gifts committee for the camp and conference center's fundraising, believes that an improved hotel offers a pleasant environment for people of all ages. "I think it's a great place for young and old folks," said Smith, who added that upgrades to the hotel would make Massanetta Springs "a better and more comfortable facility, with a variety space for all kinds of groups." The campaign to raise money
for improvements to the hotel is called the Living Waters Campaign, according to
Holbrook.
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