The City of Lawton and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation are collaborating on a project to improve recreational access to Gondola Lake in Medicine Park.
Lawton owns the lake and received American Rescue Plan Act funds via the Wildlife Department for repair of the Gondola Lake dam.
The ODWC approached the city staff with a proposal to improve the recreational use of Gondola Lake by installing a boat ramp and parking area adjacent to the lake, and by periodically stocking the lake with a variety of sportfish.
The Wildlife Department also agreed to put safeguards in place to protect Lawton’s Medicine Park Water Treatment Plant and the backside of the Lake Lawtonka dam spillway, Deputy City Manager Dewayne Burk said.
Lawton’s City Council on Oct. 22, 2024, approved a $336,584 amendment to the master services agreement with Jacobs Engineering Group, which was hired by the council in June 2023 to perform preliminary design work on renovation of the century-old Gondola Lake dam. A previous amendment to the agreement, for $150,000, was approved by the council in February 2024.
The city-owned dam is approximately 100 years old and is used “to create a small tilling pool just downstream” of the lake, “for recreational use in Medicine Park,” Lawton Public Utilities Director Rusty Whisenhunt said. The dam’s overflow spillway is damaged “and requires rehabilitation,” he said.
A concrete cap will be installed across the Gondola Lake dam, Whisenhunt said. “A 2-foot concrete top across it that has been damaged will be restored,” he said. “We're also making it wide enough for a sidewalk and handrail for people to walk across.”
The total estimated cost of the Gondola Lake dam project is $2.5 million to $2.8 million, the city council was told.