Once-popular swimming pond at Buffalo River State Park to remain closed – InForum

GLYNDON, Minn. — The swimming pond at Buffalo River State Park will remain closed this summer, and likely for summers for the foreseeable future, as damaged infrastructure renders the pond unusable.

The swimming pond at the park near Glyndon has been closed for five summers. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has given various reasons for its closure over the years, including lifeguard shortages and COVID-19 restrictions.

During its closure, the pond’s already aging filtration infrastructure was damaged, leaving a choice between repairing it or pursuing other recreational activities in the park, said Brian Nelson, park superintendent.

“We’re just trying to figure out what’s the best way to move forward,” he said. “Do we want to replace things, or are we going to go in a different direction, especially since we’ve had trouble recruiting guards for these few years?

Alyssa Goelzer/The Forum

In the past, the swimming pond at Buffalo River State Park was filled in early summer with water from the Buffalo River that was filtered and treated.

It was last open in 2018, the year a 9-year-old Moorhead girl drowned during a Moorhead police youth program outing to the park. The following summer, in 2019, the pool did not open after the DNR struggled to hire enough lifeguards to staff it.

From 2020 to 2022, the swimming pond did not open due to COVID-19 restrictions, Nelson said. Meanwhile, an ice jam damaged the pond’s water inlet pipe, which draws water from the Buffalo River into the filtration building. Winter is also hard on plumbing because the filtration building is not heated or insulated, he said.

Nelson said “significant funding” would be needed to get the swimming pond operational again.

“We don’t have a real number on that, but just knowing that our intake pipe needs to be replaced, and if we have to replace plumbing parts, valves, things like that, it’s all going to cost l ‘money,’ he said.

The DNR formulates a management plan that helps guide facility development and resource management for each state park in Minnesota. Parks and Trails staff develop the plans through a public process that gathers feedback from members of the public and other stakeholders.

Before repairing the swimming pond infrastructure, Nelson hopes to see an updated plan for the park. The last park plan was completed in 1979.

Alyssa Goelzer/The Forum

While the swimming pond historically attracted visitors to the park, people continued to visit Buffalo River State Park for other activities. The park has drive-in campsites and hiking trails through the meadow. With the Buffalo River running through the middle of the park, people come to fish and bird watch along the river.

“Now it seems like people are going out and doing different things in the park, and our numbers are about the same,” Nelson said.