Park progress

By Patrick Johnston

Published: June 27, 2008

The motorists traveling U.S. Highway 431 North can’t see the work that is occurring at Lakepoint Resort State Park.
They also can’t see the most ambitious economic development project currently occurring in our county.
Workers remain busy at the lodge, turning dozens of antiquated rooms and meeting facilities into a gem for the entire region. One project official told us this week that work is progressing well – much better than other state park renovations that have recently occurred throughout the state.
By this time next year, there’s a good chance we’ll have a story about the newly-renovated lodge’s opening. That will instantly make Lakepoint one of the best state parks in the state, if not the Southeast.
Anderson Construction was awarded the $10 million construction contract last year. The contract includes renovations to the lodge, convention center, meeting rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, public areas, swimming pool, hotel rooms and laundry facilities.
“These renovations will once again make this facility competitive in the hospitality market,” park manager Jim Royal said in an earlier story.
“There won’t be a park in the state that will be as nice as Lakepoint once this project is completed.”
We’re not the only ones excited about Lakepoint’s future. Birmingham News writer Mike Bolton mentioned Lakepoint’s future improvements last weekend in his column, “Alabama State Parks making a comeback.”
He wrote about recent improvements at Guntersville State Park, which is just as important to north Alabama as Lakepoint is to the Wiregrass and Chattahoochee Valley. He then mentioned the renovations at Lakepoint.
“I was at Lakepoint State Park in Eufaula the other day and workers were busy bringing the magnificence back to that place. The new cottages alongside the lake are beautiful,” he wrote.
“I talked with a man from Atlanta who was staying there. He said he was now bringing his wife there once a month.
“He said we were lucky to have something like that in Alabama.
“Indeed we are.”
Lakepoint will be a first-class facility once it is completed that will draw tourists, conventions and bass tournaments from across the state and region. It will be an ideal location for business workshops and meetings, vacations and banquets.
We well remember a column that appeared in a Panama City, Fla., newspaper last year criticizing the poor conditions at Lakepoint.
Hopefully that columnist will return to the park once the renovations are completed.
We think he’ll be impressed.