It long looked like a 'zombie movie set.' Now Warminster to transform former Navy housing

The long-vacant neighborhood of Warminster's Shenandoah Woods is now gone — more than 25 years after the last servicemen moved out of the military housing.

The last of the 199 homes that once housed military personnel at the Naval Air Warfare Center, which closed in 1996, were finally demolished late last year. And just last month, Warminster announced on its website the concrete slabs of the former homes had been removed.

"No more houses, no more pads!" the update read.

The quiet announcement marks a significant milestone in the decades-long plan to redevelop the 55-acre site that sits off West Bristol Road, and plans are moving forward to turn the vast space into a passive township park. The park once developed would add to Warminster Community Park.

Shenandoah Woods from housing to future park

The 55 acres of Shenandoah Woods was once part of a larger 824-acre military facility in Warminster and Ivyland that the government took over in 1944 from a military aircraft manufacturer, according to military documents.

After World War II, the Naval Air Development Center, as it was called then, would complete missions including "research, development, testing, and evaluation for Naval aircraft systems." It would also perform studies in anti-submarine warfare systems and software development, according to government documents. The name would eventually change to the Naval Air Warfare Center.

Personnel serving there lived in the housing at Shenandoah Woods. When the base was closed in 1996, the housing was no longer needed and fell into a state of disrepair, and was the subject of curious trespassers checking out the abandoned neighborhood.

Several online videos captured by trespassers and footage from drones featured the aging homes and structures that over the years were marked by their hollowed out interiors and graffiti. The eerie nature of site drew unwanted attention from those eager to get into the homes and capture video footage of the remains of the neighborhood.

One local official even described it as "kind of a zombie movie set" before demolition.

After the Navy finally deeded Shenandoah Woods through the federal government's Base Realignment and Closure, Warminster worked with the Bucks County Redevelopment Authority to demolish the buildings and remove the concrete slabs underneath.

Darwak said the redevelopment authority originally became involved with the township around 2011, when plans involved repurposing the site for residential use. But, plans for housing were abandoned when groundwater contamination made it "not developable" for residences.

"A lot of things happened in the 10 or 11 years before we actually closed the site with the Navy," Darwak said. "But once it's cleaned up, I mean, it's just going to be a tremendous asset to Warminster."

The Navy finally conveyed the land to Warminster and the redevelopment authority in 2021, despite the base closing in 1996, officials said. Work to redevelop the site could finally begin and demolition began last fall and ended before the end of the year.

"We got a really good team. It really was a seamless process," said Jeff Darwak, executive director of the authority. "Once they got rolling it, it was like a machine, so they were done ahead of schedule."

Shenandoah Woods now and in the future

It is now a large chunk of vacant, quiet land, fenced to the public at the adjacent Warminster Community Park, and filled only by the sound of birds chirping, bugs buzzing and deer roaming.

The land is scattered with rustling trees, weeds and grass, and the former houses leave behind only a gravel stamp of land where they once stood along with the narrow streets that made up the former neighborhood.

But the land won't be closed off forever; now that demolition is finished, the township is expected to release plans for a passive park in the area later this year, which would extend the Warminster Community Park's existing boundaries.

Township manager Tom Scott said the demolition and slab removal process cost just under $2 million and $300,000, respectfully, and was finished this spring.

Scott said the park development plan is ongoing and involves "analysis of potential funding and review of the physical challenges of the potential work."

Darwak said the township is "looking around this October" to unveil conceptual plans for the park.

Warminster homes gone, but some remain: The Navy moved out in 1996. Why are abandoned military homes still standing in Ivyland

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Warminster's Shenandoah Woods ready for park redevelopment