(Okoboji)– Construction is about to get underway again at Sherwood Forest Park, at the site of what used to be The Inn Golf Course in Okoboji. Lee Sorenson is the Executive Director of the Dickinson County Conservation Board, which is overseeing the project…
“You’ve probably seen that the agreement has come into place between the design team, the construction team, Dickinson county and our foundation to do some drainage re-work on the property. We just met with the contractor and the construction team yesterday and kind of tentatively got a timeline on when that’s going to start. Hopefully with the weather conditions in the next couple of weeks here you’ll start seeing some construction going on to put some pipes and drainage corrections on that property.”
Sorenson says the work will be done in two phases…
“So we’re trying to get the south end and the main entry of the park opened sooner than later, so we’re hoping to start on the south end kind of where the restroom and the playground is and get that all completed and maybe do a soft opening so people can start utilizing that end of the park, and then later move up to the north end and get some of that work done. We’re hoping by the end of May that the front portion will be open and then the total project we’re shooting for the end of June.”
In the meantime, Sorenson is asking everyone to stay out of the park…
“There will be some equipment and dirt moving going on so yeah, we just advise people to stay out just for public safety. We don’t want anybody to get hurt or anything, so yep, if people could be patient with us for just a little bit longer and stay out of that area until the construction is done, we would greatly appreciate that.”
Sorenson adds some young trees recently planted on the site will be temporarily removed while the work is going on. He says they’ll be placed in a designated nursery area and will be re-planted once the work is done.
Sorenson says the north half of the park will remain under construction as wetland areas and swales.
