Quarry Springs operators unveil masterplan in Colfax

COLFAX — Quarry Springs park in Colfax opened its 480 acre outdoor fishing, camping and recreational facility one month ago, and, already, park planners say at any given time at least 12 vehicles of anglers are out on the shores. But this is just the beginning.

The Colfax Parks and Recreation Auxiliary Board announced a detailed road map for the future of Quarry Springs during a public meeting Wednesday night at Colfax-Mingo Jr/Sr High School.

The masterplan was drafted by the Des Mones-based landscape architecture firm Confluence, and was based on input from public meetings in 2015 and January 2016 and studies of the park’s water, topography and shorelines.

“We want this to be a regional draw as well as an amenity for the folks around the area,” said Jim Host, Confluence landscape architect. “But with the proximity of Interstate 80 we want to have this thing with some highway presence — with some signature amenities that will entice people to come off and see what’s going on.”

The 10- to 15-year plan hopes to draw private operators for a mountain bike track, paintball course, indoor shooting range, indoor/outdoor archery range, a treetop obstacle course and resort hotel. Park planners also want to reserve 28 acres on the park’s northwest side for retail space.

The city and parks auxiliary board are exploring a cable park on what they’ve deemed the active lake as signature amenity and draw. A cable park allows people to water ski and windsurf without the need for a boat or sail by pulling the skier around a course on a cable surrounding the lake. Host said similar parks have been successful in Kansas City, Texas, Chicago and Florida.

The southern half of the park would be centered around nature, keeping the property’s forest and wetlands intact for campers and conservation educational opportunity. The plan calls for 140 RV camping sites on 28 aces and 15 cabins over looking the lake on 8 acres. The plan shows 8.5 miles of nature trails, a 6-acre primitive tent camping area and preserved wetlands.

Park planners would like to see other amenities such as beaches, fishing and park lodges, a dog park near Kum and Go off Highway 117, multiple docks, an observation tower, shelter houses and for kayak and canoers, South Skunk River portage.

About 20 people attended Wednesday’s meeting and Initial reaction to the plan has been mostly positive. But to alleviate any concern of over-development, park board members said they intentionally designed the masterplan to keep the active, consumer driven area and natural area of the park separate. Board member Greg Rhames said volunteers knew the park’s outdoor activities and beauty are a huge draw, but it has to generate revenue to be sustainable long-term.

“We kept the active, louder section closer to the freeway, and used the much more nature-riented parts of our original plan II on the east side through the island down to Kum and Go. It’s strictly nature,” he said. “It’s camping, it’s cabins, it’s lodge, it’s fishing, nature activities, biking. We looked at that as a board and realized we needed to keep that as nature oriented as possible but still provide a huge draw for other people.”

Auxiliary parks board president Doug Garrett reiterated that point and said the park could be a marrying of conservation and economic development.

“We want this to be a way to draw more business, more interest and more money into the community,” Garrett said. “We have 40,000 cars driving by every day on Interstate 80. We’d like to bring that money into the community. That’s part of the game plan. It’s nice to have the park, but I think it would be kind of naive not to try to develop that part, too.”

Kim Seebeck heads the parks auxiliary board committee responsible for the masterplan. She said Wednesday the search for concessionaires and retailers to operate some to the adventure sport facilities and fill retail shops has already begun.

“We are starting to contact those types of stores and starting to develop those types of relationships,” Seekbeck said.

Development of river access and some of the amenities could hinge on the city securing use of 40-plus acres of adjacent land on the southwest which is currently kept in a private trust, known locally as the Schlossor Trust. Schlossor trustees gave the board permission to include the property in the plan presented Wednesday, but the city has not officially gained the right to incorporate the land into the park.

Confluence and park planners will take input from Wednesday’s meeting and draft a final masterplan over the next four to six weeks. The board will then look at phasing the plan based on a financially feasibility study, allowing park planners to see what amenity would bring the quickest return to begin generating income. The Colfax City Council will have to adopt the plan before the park volunteers can move forward.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com