Town loses thousands while park remains closed

FORSYTH, Mo. -- High water in Bull Shoals Lake has kept a popular park closed for months, costing this southwest Missouri town nearly an entire summer's worth of camping fees.

Forsyth usually takes in $35,000 from campers at Shadowrock Park, which was closed for Memorial Day and won't be open for Labor Day.

"We lost 70 percent of our camping fees with the water," City Clerk Ruth Whitley said.

The park -- which is home to the Taney County Fair -- has been closed since early May after the vast reservoir rose 35 feet to the roofs of fair buildings.

Meanwhile, the cost of flood damage to facilities administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Little Rock, Ark., District has hit about $9.6 million, spokesman P.J. Spaul said.

The level of Bull Shoals has dropped enough for the Corps to clean and reopen the Tucker Hollow and Ozark Isle areas -- both south of Forsyth, on the Arkansas side of the lake.

There are nearly 20 parks and recreations areas along the lake. Work remains on those other recreation areas, making it difficult to predict when those may reopen, Spaul said.

The lake has not dropped enough to allow cleanup work at Shadowrock to start.

John Kielczewski, a Corps engineer, said the water should start to drop unless heavy rain hits.

"On the first of September, barring any major rainfall, we're looking at an approximate elevation of 670, so you can look at a six-and-one-half-foot drop," Kielczewski said.

The first gathering at waterlogged Shadowrock will be a cleanup Sept. 7, followed by another on Sept. 14, Whitley said. Volunteers will help remove refuse left by receding waters, but city employees have a lot of work to do.

Under an agreement with the Corps, the city of Forsyth leases what was part of the town before the reservoir was built for Shadowrock Park. The park includes the county fairgrounds, recreational facilities and a camping area.

"We're going to have to powerwash all the buildings, all the bathrooms, and that will take some time," Whitley said.

This was the second time in a dozen years the park has flooded, she said.