After spending a week at Lake Fort Smith State Park, Dan Gubitz of Austin, Texas, said he’d come back in a heartbeat.
Gubitz and 11 relatives were completing a stay in one of the park’s two group lodges last week. Gubitz and his wife found the park when they were looking for a place for the family to spend time with their grandson D.J. Baston, a student at nearby University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, when he couldn’t come home for a holiday visit.
Driving down Interstate 40, they saw a sign for the park and thought they would take a look.
“It’s just fantastic,” hesaid. “The insides are just first-rate. I’ve never been in a lodge to compare. And at 68, I’ve been in a lot of lodges.”
Park Superintendent Ron Gossage has been getting similar comments from visitors since the 260-acre park overlooking Lake Fort Smith opened four years ago last month.
Gossage, who is serving his 39th year at Lake Fort Smith, and State Parks Director Greg Butts said there were concerns about how the park would be received.
It replaced the very popular original Lake Fort Smith State Park that featured rustic Depression-era stone cabins, lodge and visitor center, and had a large natural spillway.
Butts said the new park,which actually overlooks the lake, is a different setting from the old park and he thought some visitors would miss the nostalgia of the old park.
“Certainly, it’s a special place and a very attractive setting,” he said of the new location.
Their concerns were allayed as soon as the park opened. Gossage said the first year the park was open, the visitor count was 170,000, compared with 95,000 visitors for the last year at the old park, which closed in January 2002.
Since the first year, the new park has averaged about 150,000 visitors a year, Gossage said.
“Our campers from all over the country tell us it’s one of the nicest campgrounds that they’ve ever stayed in,” he said. “So, that makes us feel real good about what we did.”
Gubitz said his family enjoyed the lodge, was able to cook their own meals and relax outside on the porch in the evening. One day, they rented a party barge and cruised around the lake.
“The people were great,” he said. “The accommodations are great. We were treated like we were royalty.”
When Fort Smith needed more water, it decided to expand its Crawford County reservoir, then composed of two lakes on Frog Bayou: Lake Fort Smith and Lake Shepherd Springs.
The city spent $180 million to expand the Lake Fort Smith dam, which flooded the old park site and made Lake Fort Smith and Lake Shepherd Springs into one large reservoir. The new park sits adjacent to the site of the old Lake Shepherd Springs dam. A remnant of it still juts out into the lake from the day-use area.
Since the old park was destroyed by Fort Smith’s project, the city agreed to replace the park. State parks officials decided to take the opportunity to upgrade the facilities. Butts said efforts were made to maintain the rustic feel of the old park and to add to it.
So, when Fort Smith spent $12 million to replace whatwas lost at the old park, the state spent an additional $10 million for more amenities.
Since then, the park has been a work in progress.
It started with the visitor center, a swimming pool and splash pad, another feature retained from the old park - 30 reserved campsites complete with water, sewer and electric connections, a day-use area, marina and a group lodge.
“Our worst [camp] site here has more amenities than our best site did at the old park,” Gossage said.
The campsites are full on the weekends during the spring and summer and 75-80 percent full during the week, he said.
Last year, a second group lodge and dining hall were completed.
Since the dining hall opened, the park has seen more weddings, wedding receptions, family reunions and business meetings held at the park, Gossage said.
The Kiwanis Club, which has used the park for more than 50 years to provide camping for underprivileged children, is pleased with the new park and the opportunity to continued its tradition, Butts said.
In February, a $1.8 million contract was awardedfor construction of 10 cabins - five two-bedroom and five one-bedroom - to replace the Works Progress Administration stone cabins that were destroyed when the old park was closed. The new cabins should be completed this winter, Gossage said, and two will be handicapped accessible.
Cabin project contractor Scott McMurtrey with Steele Development of Bentonville said he is pleased to be working on a project where attention to detail is important, noting the hardwood floors, stone work and other materials that will make the cabins last for years.
“Anytime you get to work on stuff that’s nice and done right and everyone wants it done right, then that’s more enjoyable,” he said.
Butts said efforts were made to retain the flavor of the stone cabins from the old park. The new cabins will be have stone skirts along the base and stone salvaged from the old park will be used for walkways around the cabins and elsewhere in the park.
But Gossage said the new cabins will incorporate many modern features. They will have central heat and air, kitchens, bathrooms and wireless Internet access.
“Technology has just gotten so much better and we use a lot of it in the park,” Gossage said.
The marina at the new park has a much enlarged fleet, compared to the old park, with kayaks, canoes, motorized jon boats, a bass boat, paddle boats, two pontoon boats and a tour boat all available to rent, Gossage said. The rentals are available from mid-March to the end of October.
The park also has a fulltime interpreter and a seasonal interpreter. They lead various nature, wildlife and history programs throughout the year that Gossage said are popular with schools in the area.
Once the cabins are finished, the park still needs a few finishing touches. Gossage said a courtesy dock is being planned for the boat ramp area and a fishing dock in the day use area. More hiking trails also are being planned.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 13 on 07/08/2012