VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Around the time Big Spring was named Missouri's first state park, Lonestar School of Ripley County brought all of its children over on the back of a log truck, crossing what was little more than a dirt trail through the hills near Van Buren, Mo.
His father was among that group, according to Dr. James Price, who now works as an archaeologist for the National Park Service in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. Price can remember coming later, as a boy in the 1940s, after the Civilian Conservation Corps completed a major project to develop what was by then a national park.
For decades, the site has been an integral part of its Carter County community, important to both the families who live in the region and thousands of tourists who visit every year.
The Riverways now expects to begin more than $6 million in renovations at the site in 2015 to restore 70-year-old historic CCC structures, with the goal of providing improved and increased visitor services.
The projects will encompass 15 cabins rented to visitors and a dining lodge that operates as a restaurant. Funds will also provide for major repairs to utilities and improvement of 75 acres of trails and landscaping.
The National Park Service says this work will force the cabins and lodge to be closed for an extended period of time. The spring, campground and pavilions will remain open during the work. The renovation project is so extensive, the NPS believes it would be difficult to keep other facilities in operation.
The intention of the park service is to bring these facilities back to their former glory, according to ONSR Superintendent Bill Black.
"We plan to open these wonderful facilities as soon as possible and to work to enhance the concession opportunity that currently exists while continuing to provide an enjoyable experience for our park visitors," he said in a press release.
This has prompted Kim Davenport, who holds the current concessionaire contract for the cabins and lodge, to begin a petition at change.org against the closure.
Davenport agrees the work is needed, but would like it to be completed in stages to keep various portions of the CCC structures open during renovations. Her petition currently has more than 500 supporters, among them residents of Van Buren, Ellsinore, Potosi, and Oran, Mo., Burton, Mich., Tulsa, Okla., and Robbinsville, N.C.
"I think it will adversely affect the local economy," said Davenport, who suggested the work could be done in the off season.
This is Davenport's 11th year operating the cabins and lodge, the maximum allowed before the park service has to place the concessionaire contract out for bid. She employs about a dozen people during the time the lodge and cabins are open.
Davenport said she has the cabins open to rent from March 1 to Nov. 1. The lodge opens in May.
During the season, Davenport sees a combined daily count of about 10,000-12,000 people. Davenport said a family of five that stayed two nights would, for example, be counted in that figure as 10 people.
The money for this project comes from a national pool of funds to address deferred maintenance issues at parks around the country.
The park service wanted to wait to complete these projects until the current concession contract expired, and before a new contract was awarded, a process that takes several months, according to Dena Matteson, ONSR fire communication and education specialist.
A more detailed timeline of how and when work will be done is expected to be released after the park service begins receiving funds in 2015. The funds will be received over more than one budget year.
This is not money added to the Riverways operating budget. It is awarded through a competitive process based on need, explained Matteson.
"The four to five months the cabins are not rented in the winter are not optimal for concrete and utility work," Matteson said.
The area surrounding the cabins contains steep hills and many outdoor projects are included.
About $2 million in work is planned for utility upgrades. About 5,500 feet of overhead electric lines are to be buried. Some 6,500 feet of water lines, 3,000 feet of propane lines and 4,650 feet of sewer lines also will be replaced.
The aging lines are beginning to fail, according to the park service. Aside from repairs, no major work has been done to the sewer or electric in about 40 years, while it has been about 30 years since major work was done to the water lines.
These projects will involve interrupted services, as well as extensive use of heavy equipment. Matteson believes visitors who come to enjoy the peace of the area around the cabins would find the work disruptive, even if the park service could guarantee when utilities would be available to the cabins, which it cannot.
"A lot of that infrastructure work means the whole area will be dug up," said Matteson. "And there will be work on the cabins themselves. They all have things that need to be repaired. The best way for that is for a contractor to come in and do everything in one big project."
About $2 million is scheduled to be spent on renovations at the cabins, including repairs and upgrades to cracked stone, roofs, electric and plumbing.
The work will include improvement of heating and air conditioning units to allow more use in the shoulder seasons, Matteson said. No two cabins are alike and some include heat and air, while others do not.
The park service would like to extend the concession contract in the future to offer boat tours from the dock near the dining lodge and open one of the unused buildings as a park store. The dock is in poor condition and listed among the planned repairs.
Some of the stone work will be substantial, according to the park service.
At the 145-foot entrance wall, which extends on the north and south side of the road to Big Spring, 40 percent of the stone has been identified as cracked or unstable and in need of repair or replacing. A retaining wall on the south side of Big Spring has damaged stone totalling about 30 percent.
Each of the stones used to build walls and structures represent about eight hours of labor for the more than 3,000 CCC youth stationed at Big Spring between 1933-37, Price said. The boys, who were 18-21 years old, quarried the stone from the nearby hills, shaped the blocks by hand and then built the cabins and other facilities.
The Riverways had to go through a peer review process to receive a high funding priority. The review looks at all the needs of the region before making its decision, said Price.
"The key word is deferred maintenance. There weren't enough funds in the past for repairs. This is catching up at Big Spring," said Price.
About $1 million will be used to improve Big Spring Lodge, where the foundation in the dining room has cracked. It's a structural issue, though not a devastating one at this time, said Price, explaining the issue has been monitored by the park service for about a decade.
Another $1 million is planned for the improvement of 75 acres of trails and landscaping.
Big Spring was first able to become a state park because the spring, which is the largest in the western hemisphere, was donated to the state by the family of Dr. and Mrs. T.W. Cotton. Dr. Cotton operated a hospital at what is now the Mercantile Restaurant in Van Buren.
Since that time, it has become special to many families, some of which has been shared on change.org.
Pamela Collier of Dexter described the area as among limited resources for families to enjoy the outdoors."Big Spring offers an affordable experience for families that just are not available to our area," she said. "Please do not close this part of the park."