ROGERS — The heavy rain may be over, but cleanup efforts at Lake Atalanta Park have just begun.
The more than 8 inches of rain that fell in Northwest Arkansas during the last weekend in April caused $500,000 in damage to the 235-acre park that reopened in October after extensive rehabilitation efforts.
Lake Atalanta has been closed since late April for safety concerns, officials said.
The park’s north entrance, a vehicular bridge and a couple of pedestrian bridges took the biggest hits from the rain, said Ben Cline, public relations specialist for the city. The park’s weir, a couple of scour walls and the nearby Railyard Bike Park also need repairs.
Parks and Recreation Director Jim White said his department is focused on first repairing the portion of the park that lies south of Walnut Street, which includes Clark Pavilion, the Railyard Bike Park and Pleasant Ridge trailhead and the trails to all three.
White said his crew would have the south side of the park ready to be open this weekend.
“Lake Atalanta Park’s progress is primarily hindered by the damage to a vehicular bridge. Our main concern there is safety,” he said. “So everything is still closed north of Walnut.”
The Railyard is not open, but its trails and parking are. The trail around the lake perimeter and the 10 miles of soft surface trails that are used primarily for hiking and mountain biking also are closed.
Of the two damaged pedestrian bridges, one has limited damage and one has structural damage, White said. The vehicle bridge is a greater concern, since it is primarily where visitors take their fishing boats.
“It’s been compromised because a large piece washed away,” White said.
A report of damage estimates assembled by the city lists the vehicle bridge as the most expensive of anticipated repairs at $125,000.
A scour wall will cost another $100,000; the lake’s weir and channel will be $87,500; $62,500 for the pedestrian bridge and another $62,500 for a second scour wall; $37,500 for a park slope and $25,000 to repair Lake Atalanta Park’s north entrance. The figures were submitted to FEMA for possible reimbursement.
Recent renovations and expansions of the park cost $17.5 million. Another heavy rain event in September shortly before its reopening caused additional expense when 2,000- and 6,000-pound rocks in the park were damaged and had to be moved.
“That 5 or 6 inches of rainfall caused lots of damage in September,” Cline said. Back then it was the Railyard Bike Park that suffered the most. “It was closed for three weeks to put in grass and wildflowers as anchors for the soil and time to improve drainage.”
The improvements meant the bike park fared better this time around.
“The damage to it is less significant than the damage to Lake Atalanta Park,” Cline said. “The Railyard will take time to dry out, especially after Thursday’s and Friday’s rain, but the point is to get everything reopened as soon as possible.”
Crews of city employees from parks and recreation and the community development departments will start work to make trails around the lake safer for passage.
“It will take a few weeks, but we’re working with engineers and administration about a way to make parts of the park open, hopefully starting with the hard surface trail,” White said. Temporary fencing will be placed to protect areas damaged by the flow of water.
White has no estimate for when the remainder of Lake Atalanta Park will reopen, but residents can check the city’s social media pages for updates or call the Parks and Recreation with their questions.
“According to the Outdoor Recreation Economy Report recently presented by the Outdoor Industry association, outdoor recreation is an $887 billion industry in the U.S.,” said J.R. Shaw, executive director of Visit Rogers. “So keeping Rogers spaces such as Lake Atalanta, the Railyard, and Hobbs State Park alive and thriving benefits us all.”
April Wallace can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAApril.
NW News on 05/14/2017