Posted on

Marion reopens fishing lake

Share

Rehab work finished at Sport and Recreation Complex

news@theeveningtimes.com

After month of repairs, the pond at the Marion Sports Complex is back open for fishing.

Parks and Recreation Director Andy Rawls said although they still have some work left to clean up the ruts in the grass, anglers are welcome to start using the pond again.

“I’m going to open the lake again for fishing even though it’s not 100 percent back to where it was before around there,” Rawls told the City Council.

The pond has been closed since last fall while the city made necessary repairs.

The lake was built in 1997 but was steadily eroding from years of wave erosion caused by the wind. Some areas on the west side of the pond had lost as much as ten feet of embankment.

The city hired contractors to drain the pond, re-shape and re-slope the embankments. They also laid down a protective film and installed rip rap, a rock barrier material to help protect the banks from erosion.

Rawls said the park around the pond is still rutted from the heavy equipment and they haven’t been able to fix the damage as quickly as they had hoped because of the rainy weather.

“The grass has finally gotten to where we can start to do something with the ruts,” Rawls said. “We’ve gotten some of the worst parts taken care of. So I can’t see any reason at this point not to re-open it.”

Mayor Frank Fogleman welcomed the news that the pond is ready to use and that project is just about finished.

“If it doesn’t interfere with your work, I don’t see any reason to nor re-open it,” Fogleman said.

Rawls said he also has spoken to a local youth who needs a service project to earn his Eagle Scout rank in the Boy Scouts and has suggested he help pick up rocks near the pond.

“I told him I had just the thing for him,” Rawls said.

“We’ve got rocks that need to be picked up around the lake. So he’s going to organize a group of other Scouts to do this. I told him we would help with the equipment or whatever else we could do.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LAST NEWS
Scroll Up