Flood cleanup continues in North Jefferson City

Now that the floodwaters have receded, employees of the Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department are busy repairing park properties, including the pavilion in North Jefferson City, as shown here. Cody Moore, left, holds down the fiber reinforced plastic board while Andrew Bax trims it to size. Although the pavilion is raised, it still had about 4 feet of water in it. Wall coverings had to be removed; stud walls needed pressure washed and treated for mold; damaged wood replaced; and more as they put it back in shape for rentals.
Now that the floodwaters have receded, employees of the Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department are busy repairing park properties, including the pavilion in North Jefferson City, as shown here. Cody Moore, left, holds down the fiber reinforced plastic board while Andrew Bax trims it to size. Although the pavilion is raised, it still had about 4 feet of water in it. Wall coverings had to be removed; stud walls needed pressure washed and treated for mold; damaged wood replaced; and more as they put it back in shape for rentals.

The Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department is hard at work repairing damages the Missouri River inflicted on the North Jefferson Recreation Area over the last couple of months.

The Parks Department's first priority has been repairing rental spaces, like the outdoor shelter and multipurpose building, Assistant Parks Director JJ Gates said. They will start renting out the spaces next week, he added.

"We've had to do a little bit of work inside the facilities because, for example, the interior doors were wooden and they swelled and broke, so we had to replace those," Gates said, adding staff pulled destroyed insulation and drywall from the multipurpose building.

The Parks staff had to remove debris throughout the park and re-rock a section of the Katy Trail recently. Staff was in the process of cleaning up the multipurpose building and Noren Access on Tuesday.

Over the coming months, the parks staff will continue to clean up the Noren Access and ballfields, as well as power wash buildings and prune trees. Since the floodwaters killed grass and trees and washed away mulch, the Parks Department hopes to do some landscaping and reseeding this fall, Gates said.

Since staff has to reseed the athletic fields, Gates said, the fields most likely will not be usable until next year.

"It'll take us a while, but we'll stay after it. And hopefully by next summer, it'll be somewhat back to normal," he said. "The big challenge we have is the reseeding and the amount of acreage that we lost, like on the multipurpose fields and ballfields."

Cleanup has been a team effort, Gates said. The dog park recently reopened after several dog park users and parks staff cleaned up debris left over from the flood. The Central Missouri Master Gardeners are also in the process of repairing their gardens.

Gates said he is unsure how much the flood damage repairs in North Jefferson Recreation Area will cost. The biggest expense right now is labor, he added.

"It's challenging (because) we could be doing other things in the parks, but we know what we get when we're in a floodplain, so we're trying to get this cleaned up and back to normal as much as we can," he said.

Washington Park also had some flood damage but not to the extent of North Jefferson City Recreation Area, Gates said. Parks staff cleared debris in Washington Park and has to reseed Duensing Field this fall, he added.