WALLOWA COUNTY — Getting back to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission held its first meeting in person and they came to Wallowa County this week to do so.

“This is the first time they’ve seen each other face-to-face in two years,” Chris Havel, deputy director and commission spokesperson, said of the trip to Wallowa County.

Havel said the members of the commission chose Wallowa County to bid farewell to outgoing Commissioner Lisa Dawson, of Enterprise, whose term ended with the last meeting. They plan to hold their next meeting on the coast and before that wanted to take a trip to Northeastern Oregon. The commission meets five times a year, Havel said.

“For the people who have never been here before, we tend to hear the same thing, which is “Wow’ and ‘This is a part of Oregon I’ve always wanted to see,’” he said.

Agency Director Lisa Sumption expressed her pleasure with Wallowa County after the meeting.

“You have some of the most incredible scenery and humans here,” she said.

Seeing the sights

The commission members started their gathering earlier in the week with a trip up the Wallowa Lake Tramway hosted by co-owner Mike Lockhart. That gave him a chance to discuss issues he believes are important for the commission and Wallowa County.

Lockhart is president of the Wallowa Lake Tourism Association.

“I talked a little bit about how tourism has grown exponentially,” he said. “We have a bit of an issue now in that tourism is outpacing our ability to provide the infrastructure to take care of our guests properly.”

Lockhart noted that the lack of infrastructure is not just lodging, but everything: parking, stores, restaurants and other amenities.

“We wouldn’t have (the infrastructure) if it wasn’t for the tourism that supports them during the summer season,” he said. “It’s important to address the local needs of the people so it doesn’t become a burden on them.”

Events center

Early on Tuesday, June 14, Mac Freeborn, manager of Wallowa Lake State Park, led the group on a tour of various sites at the lake, including the site of the proposed events center at the marina, the site of a proposed property acquisition, the Upper Wallowa River that is slated for restoration, the Wallowa Falls Campground, the Little Alps day-use area and the Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site.

The first site — the proposed events center — is slated to be built just east of the current buildings in a couple of years and likely will incorporate some of the current parking lot.

Although it is still early in the planning stage, Freeborn said, a cost of $3.5 million is estimated for the 3,000-5,000-square-foot building with another $400,000-$450,000 for architectural fees.

It will have a 360-degree view with many windows, a small kitchen, restrooms, changing rooms and dividers so it can be turned into several smaller rooms or opened to one large room.

But the cost won’t all come from state coffers, Freeborn said.

“We’d have to do a lot of fundraising,” he said. “That’s where the stakeholders are coming in. They’re going to be key in raising money for this.”

Specifically, Freeborn mentioned Lockhart and Chuck Anderson, who heads the annual Oregon’s Alpenfest.

Alpenfest, which is regularly held in late September and early October, used to be held in the century-old Edelweiss Inn. However, that building has become too dilapidated and would be too costly to restore, Lockhart has said in the past. Instead, he said June 15, he and his partner, Bill Whittemore, have decided to dismantle it and have offered to let the Parks Department use parts for the events center.

Lockhart and Anderson both expressed their hopes for the events center after the meetings.

“We think it would be a good deal for the parks and for everybody,” Lockhart said.

Anderson said that with no viable venue at the lake, Alpenfest will be held Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 at the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo grounds in Joseph.

“I was there to lobby them to move as fast as they can with their planned events center at the state park because when that’s built, we’re hoping for it to be the new permanent home of Oregon’s Alpenfest,” Anderson said. “One commissioner asked, ‘What are the dates? I want to come.’ I passed on a brochure to the commissioners and I’m hoping to see a few of them.”

Freeborn said the parking lot at the events center likely will have to be redesigned. He also said the beach area is likely to change with the planned refurbishment of Wallowa Lake Dam.

Ground is expected to be broken on the $21 million project in the fall of 2023, according to Dan Butterfield, president of the Wallowa Lake Irrigation District, which owns the dam.

Freeborn said that once the new dam is completed, the water level of the lake could rise by 2-4 feet, which will flood some of the current beach area.

Evacuation access

The commissioners met June 15 in Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise to conduct routine business and hear public comments.

One of the written comments submitted involved improving access to the south end of the lake. Currently, only Highway 82 along the east side of the lake provides access.

In an emailed copy of a letter submitted by Thomas F. Kennedy, the South Wallowa Lake Community Firewise Committee has been alerted that the area is one of “extreme risk” in case of fire. There previously were three exit routes, two of which have been eliminated — partially due to Parks Department actions. The letter stated that committee representatives have met with Freeborn and a letter has been written to Sumption, but “no apparent action to mitigate these risks has been taken.”

Lockhart, too, expressed interest in improving evacuation access.

“The state parks has been awarded a piece of ground that is contiguous to the west side of the mountains,” he said. “That way they’d have the west end road and the east end road. It would be only used in case of an emergency. It would be a gated situation.”

No action on the matter was taken by the commission during its meeting.