ST PAUL, Minn. — Fort Snelling State Park has finally reopened after a long shutdown for repairing damage caused by flooding this spring.
The park sits at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and is normally one of Minnesota's busiest state parks. It officially reopened Tuesday after having been closed since March.
While the park is subject to frequent flooding, it had never before been closed to the public for so long due to flood damage.
"I've been watching closely to see when it would open again," said Paul Trower of downtown Minneapolis. Trower visited Tuesday morning to take pictures of the park.
Rising rivers from a hefty winter snowpack and heavy spring rains caused substantial damage to buildings, roads, and the main water supply line at the park. Extensive road improvements have been completed and the water supply is restored.
"How long the flood events have continued has made it difficult to get into the areas of the park that needed to be accessed for flood cleanup, which include silt removal from our trails, removal of tree debris and then just getting the roads and water mains repaired. We needed the water level to drop to a certain level before that work could be done," said Nick Bartels, assistant park manager at Fort Snelling State Park. Bartels said this has been one of the wettest years they've had in over 150 years of record keeping.
Bartels estimated the closure cost them 500,000 visitors and about $230,000 in lost revenue that would've been made through vehicle permits, merchandise sales and facility rentals.
"Really it's just the nature of being located in a major watershed," Bartels said.
They still have more work to do, which means some parts of the park are still fully or partially closed. You can find more information on closures here.
Fort Snelling State Park is also hosting programs again. Their first one is Saturday, Sept. 21, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Animal Tracks.