Leak pulls plug on sports

Anne Danahy

Anglers hoping to cast their lines in Lake Perez in Stone Valley will have to wait.

CDT file photo

A boat and a canoe sit at the edge of Lake Perez in 2000. The popular Huntingdon recreation site will be closed for about five years to make way for repairs that are expected to cost several million dollars.

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A leak in the dam means the lake will be out of commission for another five years.

Penn State owns and operates the Stone Valley Recreation Area in Huntingdon County. Part of the reason it may take until 2014 for construction work to begin on the repairs is the cost: a few million dollars.

“The funding is a concern,” said Paul Ruskin, Office of Physical Plant spokesman.

He said the funding source hasn’t been identified yet, but the university will look for grants and possibly governmental funding. He said the university decided to repair the dam and maintain it and has started the engineering and permitting work.

“It’s certainly an asset to the university and an asset to the community,” Ruskin said.

The 46-foot-tall dam was built in 1960. It creates a 72-acre lake frequented by anglers and canoe riders and enjoyed by hikers and people picnicking at Shaver’s Creek.

The lake was drawn down last year so that engineers could study a boil — water coming up from the ground below the dam — that began a few years ago. Penn State

engineer Larry Fennessey said the university has been working with the state Department of Environmental Protection, and the lake was drawn down to study the problem and try to fix it.

Over time, the boil could have eroded the dam’s foundation. Fennessey said if the problem isn’t addressed correctly, it could mean more problems later on.

“You could fill it back up and the exact same thing could happen again. You could spend millions of dollars and have it go completely wrong,” he said.

Drawing the water down took time, too. Fennessey said staff at the lake worked with the Fish and Boat Commission to move the resident fish — as large as 15 pounds — to another lake.

Ruskin said there is money available for design work and permitting, and the university will look for ways to pay for the repairs.

In the meantime, the Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center and other Stone Valley attractions are open to the public.

“There are still ample opportunities for hiking, bird watching and communing with nature,” Ruskin said.

Anne Danahy can be reached at 231-4648.