Thursday's Internet Edition, September 09, 2010.

City workers (from left) John Griffin, Mike Greathouse, Jim Atkins and Rob Miller work on a new picnic shelter at Charles Fork Lake. Photo by Neil Grahame

Spencer city employees were putting the finishing touches on a concrete floor for the shelter this week.

“We still have some landscaping to do, but it should all be finished by next week,” Rob Miller, the city’s public works director, said.

At 32-by-24 feet, the shelter is nearly double the size of the largest shelter at Washington Park. It is located below the dam at the lake, across the road from the log cabin.

The shelter will be equipped with a nearby grill, similar to, but larger than one at Washington Park.

“This is for the general public,” Miller said. “With its size, you could have a family reunion there.”

Miller said the process and a fee schedule for reserving the facility had not yet been finalized.

In addition, a privy will be built at a site between the shelter and a campground the city developed a year ago. There is no running water available. Miller said the seven rustic sites saw considerable use last camping season.

“For the first year, I think they were utilized pretty well,” he said.

Other improvements are slated for the lake in the near future, including new trash containers and a fishing pier that will be accessible to those with disabilities.

City council members voted during their meeting Thursday to apply for an $18,000 state grant that would help fund the improvements. It would be matched by $2,000 in city funds.

Mayor Terry Williams said the current work would be the last upgrades at the lake for the next two to three years.

The city-owned property will host the annual Tour de Lake mountain bike race on Sunday, May 23.