Published: March 05, 2008 01:37 pm            

Restaurant work complete

Site superintendent still seeking an operator for expanded Dolan Lake Restaurant

By PAUL LORENZ

paul.lorenz@mcleansborotimesleader.com

McLEANSBORO — The state has expanded its restaurant at Hamilton County State Fish and Wildlife Area.

Now it needs an operator.

A combination of factors — the retirement of restaurant operator Ruth Fox and the expansion work — led to the restaurant’s closing during the 2007 season, Site Superintendent Mike Lewis said.

Now the expanded Dolan Lake Restaurant is ready to do business again, and Lewis hopes it won’t be long until a new restaurant operator is found, he said last week. Several potential operators have backed out in recent weeks, he said.

“I think the restaurant has helped reintroduce this facility to the local community,” he said of the state park, located about eight miles southeast of McLeansboro.

One factor that should help attendance at both the restaurant and the park this season, Lewis said, is a change in the fishing policy on Dolan Lake, considered the park’s main attraction.

For the past two summers, he said, the state has had a policy of strictly “catch-and-release” at the lake.

“We had lost control of the lake because the predatory fish were fished out,” he explained.

That policy hurt park attendance — down about 100,000 over the past two years, Lewis said. In particular, attendance by families was affected, he said.

“Now we will allow fish to be taken home,” he said.

Effective April 1, the new policy will allow the taking of one bass larger than 18 inches, 25 bluegill in combination with redear, and six catfish, with no size limit on the latter, Lewis said.

Dolan Lake Restaurant began operation under Fox’s direction around 2000, and its success helped make the state park more a part of the community, Lewis said.

Past surveys had indicated the majority of people using the park were from 40 or more miles away, he said. Based on those surveys, changes were made to make the park more appealing to locals. One was to create viewing areas to allow people better opportunities to see wildlife; the other was to open a restaurant.

Lewis estimated that 75 percent of the restaurant’s patrons come from the surrounding community — and they started discovering other aspects of the park.

“It really has been good for us,” Lewis said of the restaurant. “We feel we’re more a part of the community than we were before.”

In its normal routine, the park brings about 230,000 people annually into the community, he said.

“It’s definitely an economic impact,” he said.

Built in the early 1960s and evolving from “a bait shop and warm-up sandwiches in the microwave,” the current restaurant facility underwent its initial renovation around 1999, Lewis said. At that time, a small area was enclosed to seat about 24 people, he said.

“In 2007, we expanded the seating area to between 80 and 100 inside and about 25 on the patio,” Lewis said.

Storage space was added to the kitchen, and the roof was replaced, he said. Overall, the restaurant is now 1,200 square feet with a seating area of about 800 square feet, he said.

Under Fox’s direction as a family-style restaurant, the state-owned facility became a viable business operation, Lewis said.

• For information on the state park’s restaurant facility: Mike Lewis, (618) 773-4340.

        

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