This is Woodward?

theshrew13

• December 19 2001
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Rumors had been circulating for years about Woodward’s desires to build a camp on the West Coast, so when we got the call about an orientation being held at the proposed site of Woodward West, we weren’t surprised. Excited, yes. Surprised, no.

All we knew was that the camp directors had found some land near Bakersfield, California, and had begun the process to purchase it. Looking at the directions, we could see that we had to drive through Lancaster, which is pretty much a desert plain, so we were assuming that Woodward would be located somewhere in the desert. But when we drove up to the site, we were greeted with some of California’s most beautiful mountains and surprisingly cold weather. It was then that we found out that the location’s average daytime temperature during the summer is a mild 86-degrees, definitely not the desert we expected!

First thing on our agenda was to meet up with Ron Kimler for a tour of the area. Ron told us that Woodward had been able to purchase an existing resort that included two lodges, a bowling alley/movie theatre, and a strange “wild west” town on 85 acres of land.

The wild west town is where the first stage of development is planned. The buildings will be converted into dormitories and ramps and rideable terrain will be built throughout the area. There will also be an outdoor skatepark here (resembling “The Cage” at Woodward, PA) that will be covered entirely with Skatelite; and when we say entirely, we mean everything, even the floor! Plans also include an indoor skatepark that is the size of three Lot 8s (58,000 square feet to be exact). To finish off stage one, a 15,000 square foot cement park will be built between the town and the indoor park.

Construction is scheduled to begin by mid February and the camp should open on July first. This summer, Woodward West will have a capacity of 416 campers, but that should double when stage two is completed next year

Speaking of stage two, it’s going to be sick. This is when the Woodward designers get to be a little nutty. The plan is to create an entire village that is basically a small town for the campers and everything in sight will be rideable. You could start at the top of the hill and bomb down through the town hitting rails, ledges, stairs, and all kinds of “true-street” terrain. Stage two will also feature a downhill BMX track and even more skateparks and ramps.

BMXOnline will be giving you updates of Woodward West as construction begins, so keep coming back to see more. In the mean time, check out the two pages of extra photos.

Photos Page One
Photos Page Two