The Lake Frances resort in Oklahoma used to be one of the region's highlights, drawing visitors from around the area starting in the 1930s. The lake was essentially depleted in 1990, when the Lake Frances Dam was severely damaged, but now, nearly 30 years later, the Lake Frances corner of Watts, Okla., may become a regional destination once again.
Members of the Siloam Springs Board of Directors met for an hour before their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday to hear five options for constructing a proposed kayak park on the Illinois River, near where it intersects with Highway 59 in Oklahoma, just south of the dry lake bed of Lake Frances.
Present at the hearing were Mike Brown, representing the Walton Family Foundation, and Ed Fite, Vice President of scenic rivers and river quality with the Grand River Dam Authority.
The proposed kayak park would include a 1,000 foot course, cut into the northern shore of the Illinois River, which would circumvent the spillway that is currently in the river, insuring adequate water levels in the eastern portion of the river, where the city of Siloam Springs draws its water supply.
The course would contain six or seven rapids and features for paddlers, as well as features for swimmers and paddleboarders. The park is downstream from Siloam Springs' Kayak Park and could function as a destination for paddlers that put it at the location on the Arkansas side.
In addition to providing an additional amenity to the communities of Northwest Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma, the project also offers a pair of other potential benefits. Along with the construction of the kayak park, crews would replace the existing spillway, built in the 1931, with a stair-step style dam.
That replacement would serve to repair an aging structure that City Administrator Phillip Patterson said may fail within the next thirty years, which would deprive the city, and all of its customers, of a water source. In addition to the structure's questionable stability, Patterson said the dam is a well-known drowning hazard, as its shape can cause the water flowing downstream to churn and pull swimmers under the surface.
The project may even represent a savings for the city, as Patterson said that the dam failing would cost the city upwards of $3 million to repair. Under the proposed plan, the Walton Family Foundation would fund the majority of the project, with the city and the GRDA splitting the cost of reinforcing the dam. The cost to the city is projected to be $700,000, which comes out to just under five percent of the total project.
Patterson said the project could be funded by an extension of a 5/8-cent sales tax that is set to expire in 2018. A renewal of the tax would need to be passed in a general election.
The park would be low-cost, with a possible fee for parking. Fite said he envisioned that fee to be between $5 and $7 per vehicle.
General News on 06/14/2017