It’s one of those mornings when the crisp edge of fall is beginning to show on the edges of everything. Bristoria Road is glowing with violet asters and goldenrod and the sun is just beginning to warm the air. It’s almost Equinox and I’m finally on my way to Ryerson Station State Park to meet up with park manager Alan Johnson, to see the work that’s being done on the new pool, its accompanying water park and the big building complex that puts 21st century “State” into the well-used phrase “of the art.”
If there’s a silver lining to COVID-19 it’s that with the pool closed for 2020, the crews at Ryerson had time to work almost nonstop on this biggest first step to creating the most modern state park money and technology can buy.
When Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources sent me a link to zoom in for the Task Force Meeting on August 27, heavy rains had closed the road where the work was being done and my telephone lines were compromised by the wetness and offered spotty Internet connection. Alan invited me to the park to listen in with him and when I got to the office, Friends of Ryerson member Dan Wood was there as well. Others began zooming in – our three commissioners, Richhill Twp. supervisors, Tourism, County Planning, Coalfield Justice and other community members, officials and planning and design personnel who had all the latest news. Task force co-chair Jeff Anna, who fell in love with Ryerson when he was park manager from 1994 – 2005 had the kind of really good news we’ve been waiting 15 years to hear.
“Fix and Create an Extraordinary Experience. Ryerson has not been forgotten!” There was an audible zoom gasp when the budget came up onscreen: 42.477 million dollars (35 million from the Consol Energy settlement) with 19 million spent and 22.6 million left, not including public/private funds to restore feeder streams.
“We’re within budget,” Jeff assured us. We zoom cheered.
The task force formed in 2015 when the state decided not to rebuild the dam because the ground was still unstable from the events of 2005 that caused the dam to crack and 67-acre Duke Lake to be drained. Task force members met with state officials and hammered out plans for going forward. Although five years might seem like a lifetime to a kid who once had a lake to paddle and fish in, the devil is in the details when it comes to doing a project like this right, and dotting every i on every regulatory line.
The timeline for 2021 now looks close enough to touch – remove the rest of the dam, continue to work on stream restorations, get working on the playground and other park amenities such as three new pavilions and new comfort stations, all state approved structures and nicely color coordinated, plus decide the placement of the three acre, 12-foot-deep off-stream pond that will be fully lined, with a natural habitat established for bass and blue gill and big enough to fish and paddle. Thanks to community input from coaches, commissioners and kids, the walking trail will have the proper surface for runners to train on and the bridge across the creek from the park office to the other side will allow for vehicles and have a pedestrian lane. The push is also on for broadband because parents now telework from campgrounds and their kids have schoolwork to do.
Alan reported that there are positions open for park staff, including that of environmental specialist and secretary. (Mary Forsyth retired this year after 26 years of being the park’s best cheerleader, organizer and friendly face. We miss you, Mary!) Workers had also run into seams of “bad soil” aka slippery, unstable clay as the hill was contoured to accommodate the new pool complex. It was removed and replaced with aggregate and the project is still on track for next summer.
These same seams of clay were dug for the two years it took – 1874-1876 – to make enough brick for the Lazear House that park managers and their families call home for their tenure. It took weeks to load each batch in the beehive ovens, fire them from the bottom and let them cool for days, then load up and do it again. It would be another 40 some years before grandson Jesse took over the farm and ushered in 20th century living with his Model T family car, braving rutted country roads to get to town. Closer to our time, there was “a dearth of potable water” available at the new park when it opened in 1960, but an early brochure hoped to have sanitary facilities, roads and parking, picnic spots, boat launches and a pool ready for the “1967 recreational season.” The pool would not open until 1971.
Here at the zoom meeting, time was taking a different tack. Now we’re talking about the mere months it will take to have the pool open for business. Next summer is suddenly a bright possibility, complete with a ribbon cutting. ‘Will we be able to find enough lifeguards?’ is now something to really start thinking about.
When COVID-19 hit, state parks were classified essential and the number of hikers, bikers, campers and anglers coming to the Commonwealth’s 123 parks increased dramatically, Jeff was happy to report. The same is true at Ryerson, Alan tells me when the roads finally dry out in September and he opens the gate so I can see the water world that is replacing the first pavilion. The construction stretches along the hillside to include a spacious parking area and access to trails and the new playground. “We have thirty camp sites in the park and they’re full every weekend.” Alan asks visitors where they are from and gets some startling answers. One couple from Boston came for a week of R & R. “He told me he was a fireman and his wife’s a nurse. They get a week off for every three they work so they came here. He said it’s only a 17 hour drive!”
As we look around, Alan points to where future features will be located. Now everything I heard described at the task force meeting begins falling into place. Work on reestablishing the old streambed has yielded extra soil to be used to reshape the feeder streams from the headwaters down, adding more flood plain and mitigating the force of floodwaters during heavy rains and spring melts. There will be a pavilion in the old lakebed near where the dam once was and trails will loop from the iron bridge, through what we can see standing here. At Alan’s insistence, the playground and the pool area will have plenty of umbrella inspired shade areas to protect young skin and pavilions and other buildings will have solar panels on the roofs. The electricity generated will be fed back into the grid with zero cost electricity for the park as a goal.
The agenda for fall is familiar to any park-goer – hunting in season, hiking, biking and camping whenever the spirit moves you. Keep social distancing with park officials and other visitors and always have a mask on hand. Fires are permitted but Alan asks that you not bring wood from home, even if you live in the county, to keep from spreading destructive insects and other invasive species.
The Friends of Ryerson raised money to buy a wood shed for the main camp ground and park workers use the wood they clear from trails and fallen trees to stock it. Be safe. Enjoy the natural world. Greene County has bunches of it.