Published: June 03, 2009 11:32 pm         

A new facility in an old shell

Construction has begun on renovation of the Roman Nose State Park lodge, damaged by flooding in 2007, with a goal to open the facility again next summer.

It is an optimistic timetable on a plan that began with phase one — demolition — and continues with phase two — current work on site preparation, a new entry to the lodge, parking lot improvements, landscaping, office reconstruction and lobby improvements — said Hardy Watkins, executive director of Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.

“Construction crews are on site, and work is under way. It’s going to be a great facility,” he said. Henson Construction, of Enid, is in charge of the project.

The state’s plan also calls for Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades to restrooms and other rooms — phase three — and overall renovation of the current lodge — phase four. Funding has been identified for the first three phases and part of phase four, Watkins said. The overall project will range between $5 million and $5.5 million.

“We are working to identify remaining funds that would be available to us sometime in the next fiscal year,” Watkins said.

He said the goal is to have phase three work out for bidding in late summer, with plans to start work at the first of 2010. He admits it is an optimistic timetable for construction.

“We hope sometime next summer that the (lodge) facility would be open in all its glory,” Watkins said. “What we want is a brand new facility within the shell of the old, original facility.”

Other improvement plans for the park — including dredging Lake Boecher, one of two lakes at the park, and ongoing improvements to the camping facilities — will be completed around park activities. A new water line recently was placed from the city of Watonga to the park.

Meanwhile, all seasonal activities at the park are available, Watkins said. Roman Nose Resort is the only facility closed.

Problems at the lodge and the park, which is three miles north of Watonga, began in 2007 when the area flooded. Damage in the south wing of the lodge, built as an ADA-compliant addition to the original lodge in the 1980s, led to discovery of other mold in that same area, Watkins said.

Because part of a hillside was cut away to build the wing, he said, encroachment of the remaining hill was an issue, and the state opted to demolish the wing — accomplished earlier this year — and close the facility until repairs and renovations could be completed.

When that is done, there will be 22 rooms at the lodge in addition to meeting and banquet facilities and offices.

What is left of the lodge now is what originally was built in the 1950s, Watkins said, and officials decided to take that reality and run with it.

“The lodge will be really as it was intended to be,” Watkins said, adding it will be an up-to-date meeting facility and resort area with a focus on its aesthetic surroundings. The hillside that created so many problems for the south wing from the beginning of its construction will be revised to “recreate a more natural setting,” he said.

Before demolition of the south wing, the lodge had 47 rooms with an average capacity of 40 percent the last several years, Watkins said. Industry standards at many hotels along interstates are 60 to 65 percent occupancy, he said.

There is interest locally to rebuild the lodge to its pre-flood capacity, and Wat-kins said he does have architects working on de-signs toward that end. However, there are no serious plans for rebuilding at this time.

“We do not have that funding,” Watkins said.

He said he hopes with an improved facility, park officials can show a need for expansion at Roman Nose.

“It’s a terrific park,” Watkins said, adding it is one of the state’s original parks, the only one with a canyon-style golf course and a jumping off point for other state park and tourism experiences such as Great Salt Plains, Alabaster Caverns, Glass Mountains and Little Sahara.

“There’s a lot of things unique to Roman Nose that makes it a distinguished place for Oklahoma. That’s why we are dedicated to bringing the facility back.”