D&L plumbing, heating and air conditioning employees Brian Amundson, left, and Bryan DeForge will install new pipes and risers Friday that will bring water to the campgrounds at the Lake Antoine Park campground in Iron Mountain. DeForge estimates that D&L employees will install approximately 1,500 feet of pipe during the ongoing project. (Brian Christensen/Daily News photo)
IRON MOUNTAIN – Work continues on repairs to the water system at the Lake Antoine Park campground, with possibly a larger project in the offing.
Coleman Engineering Co. of Iron Mountain has been authorized by the Dickinson County Board to examine a test well drilled in 1999 near the park’s dock. If unlocking it proves feasible, the cost of a new pump house and 700 feet of connecting lines to the campground and bathhouse would be about $150,000, Chairman Henry Wender said.
Other construction options include refurbishing the existing well and pump house and replacing the supply line under Lake Antoine Road at an estimated $170,000, or drilling a new well in the center of the park at a rough total cost. of $65,000. However, the latter has no guarantees on production or water quality.
After pipes were broken this spring, the province closed the campground until further notice. The park itself will remain open for day use, including swim and pavilion rentals, and portable toilets have been set up.
The board of directors voted at a committee meeting last week to close the existing pit 3-2, County Controller Brian Bousley said. Wender and Commissioner John Degenaer Jr. voted against.
Meanwhile, Iron Mountain’s D&L Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning is installing a 2-inch supply line with 44 galvanized risers for campgrounds. That project was approved on May 27 at a cost of $16,938, but has been delayed due to delays in acquiring materials.
The county council will re-evaluate the campground opening once D&L completes its work, Bousley said.
The well studied as a new water source was built by Iron Mountain’s Kleiman Pump & Well Drilling in an effort to develop an artesian stream similar to the once popular Old Faceful well that had to be demolished. Kleiman’s attempt was reportedly unsuccessful, so the well was abandoned and capped, although it is believed it could be developed.
An artesian well near the pump house would remain accessible if the current well was left as the park’s water source. The pump housing supply line is a 4-inch pipe laid over 50 years ago.
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