Commission Eyes Possibility Of Nature Center At Lake Atalanta
Last updated Wednesday, September 10, 2008 6:56 PM CDT in News
By John Henley Jr.
THE MORNING NEWS
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ROGERS -- The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission could play a role in the renovation of Lake Atalanta.
John Mack, an architect with JKJ Architects, met Wednesday with Commissioner Ron Duncan to discuss building a regional Game & Fish office and nature center at the lake.
Mack said Duncan was excited about the idea, but wanted more information. Duncan is a counselor at Central Junior High School in Springdale and was very interested in the educational possibilities of having a center at Lake Atalanta. Duncan started the "Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs" club at the junior high school 25 years ago.
Mack and Dwight Heasley, a landscape architect with CEI Engineering Associates, gave a presentation regarding possible renovation projects at Lake Atalanta to members of the Rogers Parks and Recreation Commission Long-Range Planning Committee on Wednesday. Mack and CEI were chosen by the commission to devise a plan for the renovation.
"(A nature center) could be the 'it' factor for Lake Atalanta," Mack told committee members.
Concern was raised about the Game & Fish Commission not wanting to build more nature centers. The commission has built four centers using money from the state's Conservation Sales Tax, approved by voters in 1996.
However, Mack said Game & Fish officials are excited about the idea of a combined center at the lake because of its close proximity to such a highly populated area.
A nature center could include hands-on exhibits, meeting rooms, a conference center, a boardwalk, an aquarium and an observation deck, Heasley said.
No one has discussed costs or details of such a project -- only the idea, Mack said.
A likely scenario could involve the city donating the land and the Game & Fish Commission building the center, said Rick Stocker, the director of parks and recreation.
The Game & Fish Commission has a regional office near Beaver Lake Dam.
Objectives for renovation at Lake Atalanta include creating a family friendly atmosphere that is pedestrian friendly, maintains the natural environment, is a destination place for people within a two-hour radius of the city and promotes downtown, Heasley said.
One idea Heasley returned to repeatedly would involve pumping water from the lake to downtown to create water features that would flow the water back to the lake.
Other ideas for Lake Atalanta include trails, an amphitheater, butterfly gardens and a stone mill similar to one in North Little Rock, said Heasley.
Heasley admitted some of the ideas he presented on Wednesday were "pie-in-the-sky, money-is-no-object ideas," but said he and Mack wanted to present the full range of ideas from the smallest to the most grandiose.
Stocker said the renovation to the lake probably would require money from the next two or three bond issues.
If voters approve the 2010 bond issue, that likely would be only enough to clean up the lake and begin preparation for future projects, Stocker said.
He estimated there could be about $5 million available for renovation from 2010 bonds.
If the Game & Fish Commission decided to build a center at the lake, it would speed progress of the overall renovation, Stocker said.
The bond issue is likely to be put before voters in late 2010 or early 2011, Mayor Steve Womack has said.
What's Up
Conservation Sales Tax
Arkansas voters in 2008 approved a conservation sales tax, an one-eighth of a cent of state sales tax, of which the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission received 45 percent. The commission has used the money to expand educational projects and to construct four nature centers:
• The Gov. Mike Huckabee Delta Rivers Nature Center in Pine Bluff.
• The Forrest L. Wood Crowley's Ridge Nature Center in Jonesboro.
• The Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center in Barling.
• The Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center in Little Rock, which is scheduled to open this winter.
Source: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
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