OSU makes lake improvements, including enclosed deep-water dock

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Workers at Lake Carl Blackwell, west of Stillwater, are finishing several projects, from repaving roads and adding parking lots to constructing an enclosed deep-water fishing dock and an equestrian campground.

“The addition of the heated fishing dock will increase year-round use of the lake, with a degree of comfort for the fishermen, and the equestrian campground will allow us to host national trail rides and still have plenty of room for regular customers,” said Sam McFee, assistant director, Oklahoma State University Risk and Property Management.

The enclosed dock has interior and exterior walkways, allowing anglers without a boat year-round access to deep-water fishing. It is also ADA-compliant. The final cost of the dock project is expected to be $240,000, and 75% of that will be paid with fishing access funding from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. The remainder is being paid from Lake Carl Blackwell operating funds, which include entrance fees.

Though remaining dock work includes paving a walkway and the parking lot and installing interior lighting and heaters, McFee said anglers have already been using the dock.

“It’s seen a lot of use, and fishermen have been very pleased with the results,” McFee said. “With both the dock and the trout pond in operation, people will be able to spend a day at the lake with a good chance of success this winter.”

The equestrian campground features nine sites with electrical hookups and 20 primitive sites with water access. Multiple hitching posts and stalls for overnighting horses are available. The campground is connected to over 50 miles of marked trails for horse riding and hiking. The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department provided 80% of the campground funding.

As excited as McFee expects customers to be about the new facilities, he is also happy they won’t have to deal with the road repair problems they’ve experienced in the past. More than $500,000 in improvements to roads and parking lots in the lake area were recently completed, the majority of which were funded by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Specific repairs have included the paving of the road through the main primitive campground at Beaver Cove, the repair and resurfacing of key parking lots, the access road to the boat ramp has been paved, and a new parking lot has been added in that area with several more spaces for vehicles and vehicle-trailer combos.

“As a university auxiliary, which is not funded as part of OSU’s budget, we can use any lake profits to approach state agencies for matching funds, which helps us secure improvements and amenities much faster,” McFee said. “As these recent projects prove, our relationship with state agencies allows us to develop facilities our customers desire at a cost that still provides a great recreational value.”