Lake Mead National Recreation Area. NPS/Aimee Warner.
The problem
Boulder Beach, Echo Bay and Overton Beach are three of the busiest places in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. All three still hold facilities that closed decades ago:
- The boarded-up buildings are often vandalized and spoil the look of the developed areas.
- They harbor rodents and insects, some of which carry disease.
- Keeping them safe for visitors is an ongoing cost to the park.
The project at a glance
| Funding | Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) |
| Cost | about $21.963 million |
| Planned start | fall 2022 |
| Planned finish | summer 2023 |
| Visitor impact | minimal during demolition |
The dates and cost were estimates and subject to change. At the time of writing, the work was out for bids, with a contract likely in fall 2022.
What comes down
| Place | To be removed |
|---|---|
| Echo Bay | the vacant Echo Bay Motel, at risk of collapse; the general store, gas station, concessioner's offices, park housing, picnic sites, boat launch ramp and campground |
| Overton Beach | the concession building, ranger station, housing, campground, restrooms, launch ramp and all their roads and parking; water tanks, a water treatment plant, a wastewater treatment plant with its force main and sewage lagoons, comfort stations and dump stations |
| Boulder Beach | several mobile restrooms and vault toilets — and the docks and launch ramp are repaired |
Hazardous materials are to be cleaned up at every site as needed.
What it achieves
- Removes 72,000 square feet of abandoned, hazardous or unneeded buildings from the park's real property inventory.
- Wipes out $3.258 million in deferred maintenance and repairs.
- Frees law enforcement and maintenance staff for higher-priority work, and frees the money now spent guarding empty buildings for new ways to enjoy the park.
- Ends a refuge for disease-carrying rodents that endanger visitors and staff.
- Regrades the sites so stormwater drains naturally and erosion is kept down, and replants them with native desert landscaping.
- Shrinks the park's built footprint, restores its scenic desert views and opens more ground to the public.
Sources
Based on "Abandoned Infrastructure in Lake Mead National Recreation Area to be Demolished through GAOA Funding," Lake Mead National Recreation Area, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The source's list places the general store, gas station and launch ramp at "Echo Beach," evidently Echo Bay; its status is as of 2022.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
1
0
0
0
Comments
