Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Linn County closed the site of the new Calkins Park and boat ramp, on the corner of Highway 20 and Quartzville Road, on Monday to begin construction.
“We’re planning on starting construction on the 24th,” Parks Director Brian Carroll said last week. He was just finishing up a lease agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Barriers were set up at the end of last week at the new park and then put in place Monday.
The new park site, on the shore of Foster Lake, has a gravel roadway and parking area and is used for fishing and swimming as well as putting boats into the lake on occasion.
“I know it’s a big fishing area,” Carroll said, but it will remain closed until the new boat ramp is completed in December.
Terry Watkins has the logging contract for the project, Carroll said. Not all of the trees will be removed – just those needed to build the project.
“I think Terry’s hoping to be done in a week,” Carroll said.
Diamond N Construction of Silverton has the construction contract, Carroll said.
The deadline to complete the ramp is December, Carroll said. The upland construction, including about 38 truck and trailer spaces and a total of about 50 parking spaces, will be completed while the lake level is up. When the Corps drops the water level, construction can begin on the boat ramp.
With the timing, the ramp will be used by the public for the first time in spring 2008 when the level is increased, Carroll said.
It won’t be a low-water ramp, Carroll said, so boaters launching in the winter will continue to use Sunnyside Park.
Carroll said the name of the park is taken from Corps of Engineers long-term planning documents. He is unsure about the origin of the name for the Corps documents.
“We will be thrilled when we finally start construction and the ramp is complete,” Carroll said. “It’s been a very long process. It’s good to see the end of the road.”
The state Marine Board has been extremely helpful, Carroll said. The grant was awarded two years ago, but the board extended the deadline to this year.
The project is primarily funded by the Marine Board along with funds from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and some cash from Linn County, Carroll said. The county has $750,000 available for the project.
“The Board of County Commissioners has been very excited about getting this project done,” Carroll said. “They’ve been active in facilitating it and keeping me focused.
“We appreciate all our partners in this and all the patience, and we appreciate the public having patience while we get this going,” he said. It will inconvenience some folks, but “it’ll be a nice facility when it’s all said and done.”
In addition to constructing Calkins Park, the county also will spend about $150,000 replacing about 200 feet of floating docks at Sunnyside Park, Carroll said. The project is funded by a Marine Board grant.
The Sunnyside docks have been in use for about 25 years and are in poor condition, Carroll said. Construction on the new docks will begin as soon as contracts for the grant money is signed, he said. He anticipates the docks will be available next season.
In the project, the pier system will change, eliminating the pier, concrete and gangway arrangement there now, Carroll said. When it’s finished, it will look more like the setup at Gedney Creek, with a smoother transition to the docks and easier long-term maintenance.