Bass Lake Park Open as Flood Cleanup Continues 06/20/06

Bass Lake Park is open with less parking as cleanup continues from the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto.

Boat rentals have been suspended, but resumption of other programs and activities began the Saturday after the storm. The lake trail has some damage, but is passable and open to hikers.

"We've got a lot of cleaning up and straightening up to do," Susan Campbell of the park staff said Tuesday, adding that operations are nearly back to normal.

Damaged asphalt from the lower portion of the 68-space parking lot has been removed and temporarily replaced with dirt and gravel. Some parking there is available.

The water level has been lowered below the secondary spillway to allow closer inspection of the spillway and channel. Replacement of some stone and soil in the spillway will be needed. But the dam and concrete spillway appear to be OK.

"There are repairs to be done, but it's not nearly as bad as it could have been," Parks and Recreation Director Len Bradley said last week.

On June 14, floodwaters submerged much of the parking lot and came perilously close to entering the retreat center. The channel beneath the concrete spillway turned into a raging river, washing away many of the boulders laid to weave water through the manmade channel.

Water in excess of what the concrete spillway could take washed over a secondary earthen spillway and into the parking lot. However, the structure held.

"The dam was designed to do exactly what it did," Park Manager Scott Barnard said.

See a 1-minute video of the flooding. See a slideshow of the flooding and aftermath.

Bradley credited Public Works employees and police officers with helping the park staff deal with the flooding and safely prepare for reopening.

"All of these employees are to be commended for their desire to participate in making things happen under conditions that were less than perfect," he said Monday.

Home page

Town of Holly Springs - PO Box 8 - 128 South Main Street - Holly Springs, NC 27540 - (919) 552-6221 - Holly.Springs@hollyspringsnc.us