Avon Beach Restoration to Begin in October

AVON -- The Avon Beach restoration project that was delayed by heavy rain and high water this summer is expected to get underway next month.

Spokesman Ray Schmidt says they couldn't do any work on the new retaining wall until the water level dropped. The lake level was at a 50-year high and Schmidt says they had hoped it would drop far enough to get the wall replaced yet this fall. The water level dropped some since July, but not enough to build a new wall. Schmidt says that's when the idea was developed to create a dry work area.  Crews will build a sandbag dike and pump the water out.  He says the old wall will be dismantled and the new wall will be built in about three days.

Schmidt says the water would take to long to recede in the spring and they didn't want another summer at the beach interrupted.

The project also includes a shallower slope to the water, irrigation system, new bathrooms and crosswalk from the Lake Wobegon Trail.

The $66-thousand project was paid for mostly through private donations but it also received some park dedication funds from townships and Stearns County.