GOSHEN — The Daughters of the American Revolution State Forest has re-opened after being closed since September for a $2.5 million project including major repairs to the Upper Highland Lake Dam.
The improvements made the dam safer and more accessible with additional upgrades to parking areas, boat ramps and culverts.
On a breezy late afternoon, children played happily in the lake, kayakers paddled under blue skies, fishermen watched for hits on their lines and the smell of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers filled the air.
“We didn’t get to come here at all in the fall or winter and that was something that I really liked so I am happy that this is open again,” said Kate Sullivan, 13, of Holyoke, as she and her grandfather Francis Donohue of Holyoke prepared to launch their kayaks.
The DAR reopened to the public May 19 and there was a final walk-through June 1 by participants in the improvement project, including town officials, permitting agencies, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation Office of Dam Safety, designer PARE Corp. of Foxborough and contractor E.T. & L. Corp. of Stow.
“This is a really important project and it is quite impressive what they have done,” Sandy Papush, a member of the Conservation Commission, said after the walk-through.
Papush said that light maintenance work on the Lower HighlandDam will be done this fall, but it will not require closing the DAR.
Built in the 1860s, the Highland Lake Dam is 560 feet in length and 24 feet tall, impounds up to 750 acre-feet of water with a surface area of over 50 acres and was rated a high hazard potential.
Over the years the dam had developed significant seepage, did not meet stability standards, lacked sufficient spillway capacity and suffered from erosion on the upstream slope.
Department of Conservation and Recreation spokesman Troy Wall said plans for the repairs had been in the works for seven years. The scale of the project and the nature of the work forced officials to keep the popular destination for swimming, fishing, camping, hiking, cross-country skiing and other outdoor recreation off-limits during the entire project.
At the close of last year’s recreational season, the lake was drained and repairs began.
Fill was added to the downstream dam slope to improve stability. Two culverts that carry stream channel flow under the park access road were replaced. And significant portions of the park entrance road and day use parking areas were repaved and repaired.
There also were improvements to the boat ramp and ramp parking, as well as reconstruction of the beach at one end of the dam.
An improved path now supports universal access from the boat ramp across the dam to the beach and bathroom facilities. There is also an elevated platform over the new spillway and several new fishing platforms positioned on the dam’s upstream slope, where people in wheelchairs may fish.
“I am really impressed by the handicapped accessibility,” Sanderson Elementary School teacher Kristen Schreiber of Ashfield said on a recent morning as she brought her graduating sixth-graders out on a celebratory picnic. “I think the improvements are fantastic and that this is a wonderful resource to have in our area.”
While fishing for trout on the platform over the spillway, Tom Bertrand, a retired registered nurse from West Springfield, said that he has enjoyed camping, hiking, kayaking and fishing at the DAR for years and missed the winter activities this year.
“I just love it up here,” Bertrand said. “I had planned on doing some cross-country skiing and winter camping but couldn’t because of the renovations. So it is good to be back.”
Covering a once-grassy area with large rocks interspersed with a few stone steps and landings along the length of the dam is one change that is not entirely popular with people who used to enjoy fishing from the slope of the dam.
“I don’t like the rocks,” said Wayne Carpenter of Chesterfield, who has been coming to the DAR since 1960. “It looks like it was designed to protect against big ocean waves and I think it is dangerous to walk on. But I guess it protects against erosion.”
Bertrand said that he believes the repairs were needed, and as far as the rocks are concerned, he shrugged and said, “We can adapt.”