Art & Angling

COLFAX — At the end of a push broom in a dusty equipment building at Colfax’s Quarry Springs Park and Recreational Area development site March 26, Darla Edwards clears a three-inch pile of dust, wood chips and trash from the concrete floor. Meanwhile, outside of the structure, Darla’s husband Don Edwards splits timber cleared from an area eventually intended to house tent camping.

Darla is a frequent volunteer and Don is a member of Colfax’s nonprofit Parks and Recreation Auxiliary Board. They have been involved with the park since surveying first began on North Park shortly after Martin Marietta Aggregates announced it was donating the 480-acre former gravel quarry to the City of Colfax in November 2014.

“I think it’s good moral for the city and, hopefully, we’ll get more and more people out here and they’ll see what it’s all about. It’s for the people of Colfax, but it’s also for people statewide who want to come through and enjoy it,” Edwards said. “Since we’re so close to the interstate this is the perfect opportunity for Colfax to thrive off of it.”

The park auxiliary board, which is responsible for designing and transforming the park, has hosted three “Work 2 Fish Volunteer Days” — one last fall and two in March. The lure of fishing, along with the pride of getting such a large public endeavor off the ground, has brought an average of 15 to 20 volunteers to North Park the last two weekends.

Preparing the park for public use over the past 15 months has been a community effort.

Board president Doug Garrett said Colfax and Mingo-area leaders and residents have donated skills such as heating, cooling and electrical expertise and general labor. Volunteers Kirk and Keith Russell have not only donated their heavy equipment to dig up old buried piping and tear down an unusable structure at the park, but they’ve also given more than 100 volunteer hours.

Work funded by a Iowa Department of Natural Resources REAP Grant began April 7, with the Russell assisting in shoreline grading and stabilization of approximately 2,000 feet of banks on two of the lakes. Park planners said this will help combat and fix erosion and make areas safer for shoreline fishing.

Due to the overwhelming response, while on site March 26 Garrett said the group will continue to hold work days to prepare Quarry Springs — former named North Park — for a soft opening in May.

“The initial plan is to open the dike for hiking, fishing around the front lake, have parking on the peninsula and primitive camping (on the south side of the peninsula),” he said.

A parks auxiliary board committee tasked with opening the park met March 29 to discuss how the opening will be executed. A small fee for initial park camping has not been set but Garrett said it will be a topic at the April board meeting, along with plans for camper registration and how to recruit volunteers to monitor the park. The board wants a presence in the beginning to answer questions for campers and park users — most which will be experiencing Quarry Springs for the first time. Garrett said the group is considering an inaugural camping weekend event hosted by the board, but plans are still not definite.

“Initially we would like to have volunteers out here to answer questions. We don’t know how much interest we’ll have,” he said. “It would be a test the water kind of thing. Whoever camps would still pay, even if you’re a board member. But it’s just a chance to get out here, have people overnight to see how it is, and have the police out to get a feel for it before we let the general public start coming in so we can see what issues might arise.”

Away from the wilderness and into the boardroom, progress has also been made on the park’s eventual look and amenities. Des Moines-base architectural firm Confluence — which has been hired to draft the park’s masterplan — introduced two long-term design options during a March 2 meeting in the Colfax United Methodist Church sanctuary with park auxiliary members and interested parties. Garrett said the board aims for the designs to be ready for public view by the May park launch.

The design plans include beach fronts, trails, RV and primitive camping. But some of the more abstract ideas include retail shopping, creating active zone lakes and quiet zone lakes for different purposes and camper preferences, condos and hotel opportunities and a “cable park” which would allow people to water ski without the boat, tethering skiers to a motorized cable which rounds “active lake.”

“Hopefully people get out here and see this is something they want to be a part of for their kids or grandkids,” Garrett said. “This is a big thing.”

The park has also been seeking more creative forms of revenue. The board is currently in an equipment storage agreement with Beck’s Seed, as the hybrid ag seed distributor constructs its new $15.1 million facility a few short blocks northwest of the park, on the other side of I-80.

A permanent name for the 480-acre North Park development project was also unveiled at the Colfax City Council’s regular April meeting. Garrett told the council that park volunteers voted to dub the facility Quarry Springs Park and Recreational Area. The board’s promotions committee is designing a logo which will be presented for official council approval at a later date.

Back at the park, the Work 2 Fish Volunteer Days continue to average 15 to 20 volunteers per Saturday, but April 9 the group passed a “milestone.” Work on the park has surpassed 7,000 volunteer hours since auxiliary parks board first met in April 2014.

“It’s a lot of meetings and a lot of input. We’re proud of that and for all the people involved,” Garrett said at the April 11 council meeting.

In a 5-0 vote, the council authorized a payment of $23,500 to Russell Dozing and Excavating from the auxiliary park board’s Iowa Department of Natural Resources REAP grant fund to pay for shoreline grading. The IDNR grant was awarded to the city and park project in 2015, to make lake embankments safer for anglers and to stop soil erosion.

To see more information on the North Park project and find volunteer opportunities visit the park's website at www.colfaxnorthpark.com or on the Colfax Parks and Rec Auxiliary Board Facebook page.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com