The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission announces the dedication of a new ADA-accessible fishing pier at Steamboat Rock State Park near Electric City.
The dedication ceremony is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Monday, April 28, at the boat launch on Banks Lake. The event will celebrate the completion of the 12-year project of the Rotary Club of Grand Coulee Dam, working in collaboration with State Parks and a number of other organizations. State Parks staff and representatives from the other involved civic groups will be on hand for a ribbon cutting and remarks.
Parking for the event is in the day-use area near the boat launch. Discover Pass is required for parking in the day use area and for all other daytime vehicle access to the park.
The new pier provides fishing access to people with disabilities, and representatives from the area organizations say it is the first such accessible pier in North Central Washington. The Rotary Club set its sights on the project in 2000, establishing a location for the pier and working with State Parks to meet permit and construction requirements to the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The $60,000 project received grant support from Rotary District 5060; the Columbia Basin Foundation of Ephrata; the Grand Coulee Lions Club; the Trivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation; and individual donations.
The community also raised money for the project through Rotary Club spaghetti feeds and additionally donated time and materials worth $13,000 to build the concrete base-anchor for the pier.
Steamboat Rock State Park is a 3,522-acre camping park with 50,000 feet of freshwater shoreline on Banks Lake. The park is popular for lakeside camping, hiking, fishing, swimming and other water activities. The park’s sweeping green lawns are protected from winds by the poplar trees, in a surrounding landscape that includes basaltic rock and the gray-green brush of the channeled scablands.
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The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission manages a diverse system of more than 100 state parks and recreation programs, including long-distance trails, boating safety and winter recreation. For more information about parks and services, visit www.parks.wa.gov/events/.
Support state parks by purchasing your annual Discover Pass today, and enjoy a whole year of outdoor fun on Washington’s beautiful state-managed recreation lands. For more information, visit www.discoverpass.wa.gov.
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