Colfax’s Quarry Springs Park opens primitive camping

COLFAX — It’s been 18 months since city leaders and the Colfax Parks & Recreation Auxiliary Board announced production at the 480-acre gravel quarry on the north end of Colfax was ending and Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. was donating the property to the city.

Now Quarry Springs Park is officially open for business, and May 20 primitive tent camping was allowed for the first time. Colfax natives Bob and Teresa Sink couldn’t wait to get away from the TV with their grandkids Jeremiah and Jonas and take their tent to grab a spot on the park’s northwest lake.

“I love it out here. I’ve lived here for 25 years and the closest place to camp was either Lake Red Rock or over by Big Creek, which I love, but it is so far away,” Bob Sink said at their campsite Saturday. “We’ve been out to Moab, Utah and the Black Hills, but you can’t go there every weekend, so this is great.”

Park volunteers have prepared eight tent camping sites at $10 per night. Two cars are allowed on each site. The Sink’s grilled out, built a bonfire and made s’mores on their first night at Quarry Springs, and they weren’t alone. More than a dozen people were out fishing and canoeing Saturday, and May 20 Michael Wenke and his family were the first residents to camp at the park.

The parks auxiliary board quietly announced the opening of the city-owned park May 1 for hiking and fishing on its Facebook page and did the same for Friday and Saturday camping. Board president Doug Garrett said the volunteers wanted the opening to spread via word-of-mouth to ease-in traffic flow the first few weekends.

More than 700 volunteer hours have gone into readying the park for public use. Dozens of people from throughout Jasper County have spent Saturdays last fall and this spring clearing brush, grading shoreline erosion and installing electric and mechanical services in buildings left by Martin Marietta. Those buildings serve as welcome stations and equipment storage for the park. A $53,000 Iowa Department of Natural Resources REAP Grant paid for much of the shoreline work to improve safety.

Parks auxiliary board member Kim Seebeck said one of the biggest challenges has been developing park rules for safety and fitting them within the city’s existing park ordinances. The rules had to be communicated and posted at the park’s entrance for the public.

“We’ve always felt that getting people to the park and access to the park would help people understand what the potential is out there,” Seebeck said. “Being able to use the park has always been our goal, but we just had to get to a point with certain services which we could provide and still be able to maintain safety.”

Seebeck said the board has seen kayaking, wildlife viewing — particularly the park’s two Osprey nests — and fishing as the biggest attractions so far. But the board is now preparing to unveil a host of proposed amenities and attractions in a long-term vision of the park.

Confluence, the Des Moines-based landscape architectural firm hired to draft a masterplan for Quarry Springs, will be presenting design options in a public meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. June 1 at the Colfax-Mingo High School Cafetorium.

The parks auxiliary board hopes to collect input from Colfax and Jasper County residents, as well as interested parties from central Iowa, to gain a feel for the features which will attract people to the park.

Confluence architects will have a formal presentation beginning at 5:45 p.m. giving background on development of the master plan, review the proposals and reserve time for questions from the community. An open session for people to look at the specifications will be after the Confluence presentation at 7:30 p.m.

Seebeck was on the subcommittee that hired Confluence, with funding coming from a $200,000 donation left for park reclamation and planning by Martin Marietta. She said sub-consulting company Pros of Indiana, will also be at the meeting June 1. The firm has expertise in operational and financial planning, assisting the board in phasing the construction so park amenities with the quickest financial return are implemented first.

The next major step is funding. Seebeck said park organizers have been holding back a full fundraising campaign until the masterplan is ready to present. With a comprehensive plan in hand, the board hopes it will be easier to attract larger investors, as well as small donors, with visuals and concrete concepts.

“Right now, we’re taking baby steps to get people into the park. In my mind, this is going to be a 20-year plan, but it really relies on funding, grants and interest, so that will dictate what we can do and how fast we can do it,” Seebeck said.

— Staff Writer Jamee Pierson contributed to this report.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@jaspercountytribune.com