In a year’s time Lehigh Portland State Park will look more like a state park.
The Lehigh-Portland Visitor Center will look out over the lake and at least two campgrounds will be completed.
State officials are currently accepting construction bids for the projects. The bidding process began July 11 and closes Aug. 6. Completion of the projects is set for July 1, 2025.
“It’s a tight deadline because funding for the work will expire by then,” said Ashley Evans, a procurement officer with the state’s Office of Procurements and Contracts.
Evans deferred from going into more depth about the project’s funding or its particulars. “Nothing is certain until the bid solicitation closes on the 6th and a review panel has time to review the bids,” she said.
Sabatini Architects of Lawrence is the architect for the project. Engineers include those with CFS Engineers with offices in Topeka; Certus Structural Engineers, Topeka, and Latimus, Sommers & Associates of Topeka.
According to released plans, the main floor of the visitor’s center is 5,770 square feet. A walkout basement, which is to be used for storage, has 5,440 square feet.
The main structure consists of offices, a large community room, smaller meeting rooms, a catering-size kitchen and restrooms.
“One of the most exciting things about the center is that it can be rented out for weddings and other such events,” said Evans. “The north side facing the lake has floor-to-ceiling windows. It will be beautiful.”
An expansive deck on the north side of the center looks out over the lake. A large, wood-burning fireplace is on the east side. It, too, is surrounded by expansive windows.
Two RV campgrounds will be constructed. They are called the Shale Campground and the Limestone Campground.
The Shale Campground is the larger of the two. It has 55 hookups; 36 include back-in 6-inch concrete pads and another 19 are pull-through designs. The Limestone campground has 28 pads with both pull-through and back-in designs. Both sites have shower facilities.
