Renewing Wood Lake
Upgrades come just as Lake Shelbyville is named top project in nation
Photo by Keith Stewart
Volunteer members from the Sullivan AmBucs install decking at the new fishing pier at Wood Lake. The pier was completed as of this week. The volunteers will next construct a roof for the pier.
•July 29, 2015•
by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com
These days, the Lake Shelbyville area is glistening and not just because of the hot sunshine beaming down on the water.
Two weeks ago this Thursday the US Army Corp. of Engineers announced that Lake Shelbyville had taken this year’s top spot as the Natural Resources Management project of the year.
And as if any further proof was needed, that same day, a small group of volunteers was working on installing a handicapped accessible pier at Wood Lake, just a half mile north of the Bruce-Findlay road–one of several upgrades to the 30-acre lake that when finished looks to make it a unique destination, particularly for fishing.
The volunteers constructing the pier come by way of the Sullivan AmBucs, a local chapter of the national service organization that has come to be best known for, not only providing ‘AmTrykes’ for disabled children, but also constructing ramps to make homes and businesses accessible.
And that’s where the group has drawn much of their expertise with their latest project–building a 50’x20’ handicapped accessible pier at Wood Lake that when finished, will not only allow fishing more than 45’ feet in, but also at night with the aid of solar-powered lights and a roof overhead.
“It’s a real opportunity for AmBucs to do some real good, not only for Sullivan, but the Shelbyville area,” said Denny Hutchings, a member of the Sullivan AmBucs group. “To have a facility like that as close as it is to Sullivan, open to the public and that is a nice fishery, it could be a real boom to the area, and it’s a chance for AmBucs to have a little wider impact. Just a great opportunity.”