Fort Scott’s largest park, Gunn Park, is the site of city workers’ ditch work this week, including whistles to divert water off the roads.
Towards the end of next week, around October 1 (weather permitting), work will be completed on asphalting the loop road around the park.
The 155-acre recreation area on the city’s west side is a lake-dotted park with picnic pavilions, campgrounds, and a disc golf course also offering hiking, biking and fishing to visitors.
City workers are currently trying to divert water from a low point at the bottom of the first hill on the park’s main one-way road.
“When the bottoms like that are in hollows, with floods and everything else, the work is ongoing,” said Public Works Director Tom Coffman.
“They are doing ditch work with whistles (large tubes) to divert water off the roadway,” said Park Supervisor Norman Mackley. “We are doing the pre-work now. The Parks Department will be assisting the city street crews.”
The project got started September 22, and by October 1, weather and conditions permitting, the asphalting of the whole park one-way loop road will be done, said Coffman.
“When we start asphalting, the park will be closed,” he said. “The asphalting of the total loop, the main road, will start next week. Closures depend on where we are working, but the park will be open to hiking and biking.”
“We’ll go around the shelter houses…and other stuff in the park at a later date,” Coffman said.
special gatherings. Here it is lit up at Christmas in 2017.