Camp Augustine is located just north of the South Locust Interstate 80 interchange, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND – State Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island has introduced a legislative resolution to incorporate Camp Augustine into Mormon Island State Recreation Area.
Quick introduced LR 17 on Jan. 15. The resolution has been referred to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. The Game and Parks Commission will have to provide information to the Legislature including the fiscal impact of the incorporation.
Grand Island’s City Council in November 2024 approved a master plan for redevelopment of the Camp Augustine area. The total project costs of developing a park area that spans from Camp Augustine to Mormon Island State Recreation Area is $45.3 million.
The proposed Mormon Island/Camp Augustine recreation area covers 657 acres. It is comprised of property owned by these entities: Hall County, 32 acres; federal land, 88 acres; Nebraska Department of Transportation, 56 acres; Camp Augustine, 158 acres, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, 156 acres; and Mormon Island State Recreation area, 167 acres.
Features at the new recreation area would include an outdoor education center, indoor archery and pellet gun range, nature playground, kayak and fishing pond, trails and pedestrian river crossings, a tent campground, two RV campgrounds, eight single-room cabins, a dog park, and river put-in and take-out areas. A sanitary sewer system, water system, and electrical system would need to be constructed.
