MELBA, ID – A new project to upgrade southwestern Idaho’s Celebration Park is underway to add more accessibility for recreationists with boats and other water vehicles.
Workers build out a new boat ramp at Celebration Park near Melba, Idaho. (Photo courtesy of Canyon County)
Officials with Canyon County announced on Friday that the first section of a new boat ramp at the park was installed. The new project marks the first construction phase of a two-phase process that has been in the works for two years, according to a Canyon County press release. The boat ramp is closed for the season and is not operational while the project continues.
“This has been a huge undertaking and something we are very excited about,” said Nichole Schwend, Canyon County parks director, in the press release. “It’s the first major boater improvement to the park in 30 years.”
The first phase of the project will cost around $600,000, while the second phase is expected to cost around $275,000, the press release said. The project’s cost is offset by two Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation Waterways Improvement Fund grants, which together covered the entire cost of phase one, according to the release.
Schwend said in the release that part of the reason the project took two years to get to this point was to ensure that the new boat ramp would not cause harm to the area or impact archaeological sites.
“Maintaining and preserving the park’s history and archaeology is of the utmost importance,” Schwend said in the release.
Celebration Park, which was established as Idaho’s only archaeological park in 1989, features huge basalt melon gravels deposited by the Bonneville flood that revel petroglyphs believed to be 100 to 10,000 years old. Free guided tours are available during the park’s visitor center hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
