(Spirit Lake)– Efforts to restore a historic shelter house at Mini-Wakan State Park on the north shore of Big Spirit Lake continue.
The existing stone shelter house, built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, has fallen into disrepair.
A committee of Big Spirit Lake residents is spearheading efforts to rennovate the historic structure. The committee was formed by the Spirit Lake Protective Association and is being chaired by Joe Ulman.
Ulman tells KUOO news there’s an increased need to have such a facility on the north side of Big Spirit Lake with the expansion of the Dickinson County Recreational Trail through that area and Jackson county, Minnesota will also be building a trail south that will connect in that area. Ulman says it would not only be handy for trail users in the summer, but for ice fishermen in the winter.
Ulman says they haven’t arrived at a cost estimate for the project yet. He says plans for the rennovated structure have been submitted to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which is in the process of reviewing them.
Ulman adds the timeframe will depend on financing and any fundraising that will have to be done, along with grant applications.
Ulman says they’re also looking into getting the Mini-Wakan shelter included on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Ulman says preliminary plans include saving and renovating the existing structure, which would include a kitchen and catering area located between two meeting rooms; indoor restrooms; roofed patio; an outdoor patio; and an all-weather vault latrine.
