Berlin Lake campground has more than $1M makover

By JESSICA HARDIN

jhardin@vindy.com

BERLIN LAKE

After damage to the sewage system at Berlin Lake Mill Creek Campground closed the park in 2014, it is back in business with more than $1 million worth of repairs.

While these repairs aren’t flashy or very visible, they go a long way toward making camping at Berlin Lake a more comfortable experience.

Specifically, the park near Alliance has a new dump station for recreational vehicle sewage, 300 feet of sewer line, new grinder pumps and manhole, lift station and valve pit.

“The contract ... was $800,000 just to get everything back up and running,” said resource manager Chuck Opet.

As these repairs were being made, the water tower servicing the park broke, so they had to fix that, too. Those repairs cost an additional $100,000.

The park also replaced the concrete floors in the bathrooms and shower buildings with pebble stones and tile.

Berlin Lake was created in 1943 as a flood-reduction project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project is able to store the equivalent runoff of 6.9 inches of precipitation.

In fiscal year 2018 alone, Berlin Lake prevented more than $218 million worth of flood damage.

The campground features walleye fishing and about 320 Americans with Disability Act-compliant campsites, both primitive and electric.

Outside of the recent repairs, the campground typically relies on work by volunteers.

Fifteen volunteers stay for free in exchange for 20 hours per week of work. Volunteers do anything from park maintenance to answering the phones in the ranger building.

Additionally, the nonprofit organization Friends of Berlin Lake invests in the park.

The group recently put a new roof on the building in the day-use area. It also sells firewood and ice cream in the park, and the proceeds go back to the park.

“As our budgets go down – everyone is losing money from the state, the county, to us, the feds – we try to leverage our resources using volunteers and partners to get more work done,” Opet said.

The park also has recently gone cashless, which frees up rangers who used to spend days in the ranger building checking people in.

“Now all of that manpower is used out serving the public,” said Opet.

Opet’s next project is bringing Wi-Fi to the campsites.

“We want to make this a destination point for camping in Ohio,” Opet said.

Campsite prices range from $14 to $24 per night. Reservations can be made at www.Recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777.