Branson News Guide

Popular lakeside park to reopen in late April

Improvements are underway to restore North Beach Park, which has been closed due to the Branson Landing development, and to re-open it to the public by May 1.

“It’s one of the prettiest parks in the city, and our intentions all along were to reopen it and make the park better for our residents and visitors,” said Branson Mayor Lou Schaefer. “The natural beauty of North Beach Park along the shores of Lake Taneycomo complements our lakefront development.”

The city closed the park in 2004 at the start of the Branson Landing construction with plans to reopen it when the retail development was completed.

City crews are now refurbishing two fishing docks to place in the park as well as installing five picnic tables and three barbeque grills. A new feature at the park will be a horseshoe pit.

Branson Public Works Director Larry VanGilder says the North Beach walking path along the lake has been repaved, and it now connects to the Branson Landing boardwalk. That means the boardwalk now extends from the Bass Pro Shops parking lot in Branson Landing to the north end of North Beach Park where Roark Creek runs into Lake Taneycomo — a distance of almost a mile.

North Beach Park can be accessed from the parking lot north of Belks department store.

Schaefer said the city saved the giant cottonwood trees on the west side of the park. “These stately trees have always been a feature of the park and provide plenty of shade for late afternoon and evening walks, picnics and other recreational activity,” Schaefer said.

City officials plan a ribbon cutting to officially re-open the park at the end of April just in time for the busy tourist season, according to Schaefer.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 26th, 2007 at 11:35 am and is filed under Branson News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.