(Arnolds Park)– The city of Arnolds Park is moving ahead with plans to demolish an abandoned pump house it owns on West Lake Okoboji. It’s located on a portion of Pillsbury Point where an extensive shoreline restoration project is about to get underway by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The shore in that area was heavily damaged in the 2024 flood.
The Arnolds Park City Council Wednesday evening approved plans and specifications for the pump house removal. A representative of Bolten and Menk, an engineering firm overseeing the pump house removal, said the demolition will take place from the water…
“Our approach is to bring barge crews in. We’re not anticipating any land-based construction activities. We’ll be brining in crews from a barge. They’re going to demolish the existing structure to five feet below the future grade. When I say future, the grade that the DNR is going to build back. They’re going to dispose of all that material, again via barge. We did find asbestos and lead within the facility, so that’s going to be taken care of with standard hazardous materials processes.”
The city council will meet in special session September 29th to consider quotes. The project has an estimated cost of $184,000 which is below the $206,000 threshold that requires a bid process.
Plans call for the pump house removal to be completed by the time the contractor doing the shoreline work for the DNR makes it to that area of Pillsbury Point. As we reported previously, the shoreline project is scheduled to get underway October 1st and will continue through the spring of 2027.
