Camp Augustine is located just north of the South Locust Interstate 80 interchange, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND – The Grand Island City Council voted 8-0 Nov. 19 to approve a master plan for redevelopment of the Camp Augustine area.
In March, the City Council approved hiring Big Muddy Workshop of Omaha to develop a master plan for the Camp Augustine property, which the city now owns. Big Muddy Workshop presented their findings to the City Council on Oct. 8, and the plan was discussed again at the City Council study session on Nov. 12.
The total project costs of developing a park area that spans from Camp Augustine to Mormon Island State Recreation Area is $45.3 million.
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.
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.
Brad Mellema, director of the Grand Island/Hall County Convention and Visitors Bureau, spoke in favor of the project.
Brad Mellema, director of the Grand Island/Hall County Convention and Visitors Bureau, spoke in favor of the master plan for Camp Augustine at the Nov. 19 City Council meeting, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
