Mark Twain Lake celebrates a "two-for"

Mark Twain Lake celebrated twice Saturday, September 12.  The lake is getting a new visitor center and celebrated 25 years of service to the region and the nation.

First in late morning more than 125 people from across the region and as far away as Maryland gathered to mark a new beginning for the multi-purpose lake project by breaking ground for the new M. W. Boudreaux Memorial Visitor Center.  The center, illustrated by large architect’s drawings will go up on the site of a previous facility, the shell of which was undergoing demolition in the background.  The original visitor center, by the same name, had to be closed in 2004 when structural deterioration was assessed, making it unsafe for visitors.

The new $4.5 million facility is being built with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).  In his remarks, St. Louis District Commander Col. Thomas O’Hara told the audience that without the ARRA funds it was extremely unlikely that we would have seen funding to build this center for years. 

He also noted that the design-build process using existing contracts from the Huntsville, Ala.  Engineering Center was the only way this work could have been accomplished under the time constraints of the ARRA.  “More than 85 percent of the materials and labor to design and build this facility are being obtained locally,” he noted.  “We could not have done this any other way,” he concluded.

“We are carrying out the intent of the ARRA with this project,” Col. O’Hara told the audience that ranged from babies to people who had lived in the region all their lives, and some who had worked on the original building.  “We are putting Americans to work and we are building lasting value for the nation,” he emphasized.

The new facility will continue to portray the history and natural resources of the 55,000 acre project.  Its design was influenced heavily by local partners who have been working to make the replacement center a reality, and it will include a multi-purpose room for education and other local events.

Many of the same people who broke ground in the morning moved down the hill to a site below the Clarence Cannon Dam, which forms Mark Twain Lake, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the lake’s operation.

The keynote speaker for the observance was the same person who delivered the keynote remarks when the lake was dedicated 25 years ago: then governor and now senior Missouri Senator, The Honorable Christopher “Kit” Bond.

Senator Bond contrasted the splendid sunny Saturday event with the first day celebration that saw six inches of rain and a sea of mud.  “People lost shoes and they had to use heavy equipment to extricate vehicles,” he remembered. 

The Senator also announced that with his forthcoming retirement from the Senate that he intended to come to Mark Twain Lake to fish.  “Every time I come they tell me I should have been there the day before or they tell me, ‘you ought to come tomorrow.’  Well, I will be back for that tomorrow,” he told.

District Commander Col. Thomas O’Hara noted that the project’s first purpose was flood damage reduction and that in its first 25 years it had prevented an estimated $1.5 billion in damages.

The Honorable Harold Volkmer and Sam Leake, former U.S. and Missouri State representatives of the area also spoke at the celebration, as did current Mark Twain Chamber of Commerce President Doug Smith and Ralph Shaw, former general manager of the Northeast Missouri Electric Cooperative.

The day was wrapped up by opportunities to look back at historic photos and memorabilia, as well as music by the local RalūGerri group.  Another highlight was the first public visitor access to the Clarence Cannon Hydroelectric Powerhouse since the July/August 2008 flood on the Salt River. 

In closing the ceremony, Col. Thomas O’Hara presented each event speaker with an original dedication coin from the first day of operation of the facility 25 years earlier, and all promised their support for the next 25 years and more.