Are Talks Still On For A New State Park South Of Bismarck?

The Missouri River is absolutely a real treasure.

But getting close to it has always been a challenge.

Back in 2001, there was a decent strip of sand down by River Road that I could take my daughter and her friends down to splash around. But by a river's very nature, it rises and falls year after year. Making access to the river pretty hit and miss. For over a decade now there have been talks of creating the first new North Dakota State Park in 25 years. The idea is to put it on around 300 acres south of Bismarck. KX News reports that the problem is the proximity of the park to the Missouri River Correctional Center.

That's a debate I can't help the legislators with...BUT, I can show you this intricate video showing the plans for the proposed "Missouri River Day Use State Park".

In 2015, The North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department retained Houston Engineering Incorporated to make the Day Park a reality. HEI has this video presentation of the proposed park on YouTube. It's a great peek at a possible future...go ahead and hit play and I'll catch you after the film.

Well, it's good to know that as of 5 years ago this project was moving down the road at a pretty good rate of speed. But the problem still exists with it being too close to MRCC and concerns with contraband and other issues.

Park supporter Wade Schaefer of the Sierra Club summed it up like this:

I see it as they either have to put a lot of money into the existing MRCC or move it to another location, kind of like when you have a car that you’ve had for a while and things are going wrong with it, do you sink more money into it or do you get a new car? We’re at that point with the MRCC

We've all had a car that was in that situation...but in this case, it's a state facility that's only 28 years old.