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Mecklenburg County parks director Jim Garges must feel like a salmon swimming upstream in the effort to bring public swimming back to county parks. But one big item got checked off the to-do list: County commissioners this week voted to end the county's ban on lake swimming.
The county enacted the ban for its parks in 1977, shortly after a white-sand beach and swimming area opened at what's now McDowell Nature Preserve on Lake Wylie. Four people drowned in two months - one at the swimming area and three in nearby coves. The county's reaction - ban swimming - was simplistic and short-sighted. It deprived thousands of residents of a recreation option many other governments provide. For years, the closest lake swimming to Charlotte has been at Lake Norman State Park near Troutman.
Garges' staff has studied the swimming issue more than a year. They say Ramsey Creek Park on Lake Norman in Cornelius is their top choice for swimming. They estimate building costs at about $429,000, and operating costs at about $88,000 a year, including lifeguards.
Plenty of red tape remains. The county must get public input, then design and engineering expertise. Ramsey Creek Park is leased from Duke Energy, and Duke needs an OK from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC permission will likely take 12-18 months. The whole process could take two or three years.
It should be worth the hassle. Last century Duke won the power of eminent domain to create its lakes, because they served a public purpose. When it closed off virtually all the shore for for-profit development, that deprived the public of what should have been a valuable public amenity. When the county then banned swimming at its lakeside parks, too many residents were left high and dry.
It's long past time to bring swimming back to Mecklenburg's lakes.
