4 minute read
Lake Lomond
A Place to spend time with family, explore the outdoors, and experience a unique aspect of the Longview community.
The history of the lake started in 1910 when it was constructed on farmland. The original property had several buildings with a boat dock, pavilion, etc. Some of these pieces of history remain standing, but the property is not what it once was. Recently, it has been neglected and trashed. This is where the Friends of Lake Lomond came in. The Friends of Lake Lomond began because of their day-to-day jobs in real estate investments. They saw that different parts of this land were for sale and took the opportunity to buy the whole property and then began the vision for the lake. One of the stipulations from the previous owner was that she would donate the lake.
The vision of this project is to create a space where the people of Longview can go spend time with family, explore the outdoors, and experience a unique aspect of the Longview community. As part of the project, the lake will be surrounded by businesses such as an outdoor shop, food truck park, restaurants, etc. There will be walking and biking trails around the lake and they will connect to existing Longview bike trails. The goal is to use the lake as a draw and create a space for community surrounding it.
Currently, Friends of Lake Lomond is working on getting funding to start construction on the boardwalks that connect the wetlands and floodplains to dry ground around the property. The next step in this process is to raise money to support the project. There will be several naming opportunities throughout the park, for example, the boat launch dock, different banks, bridges, etc. The Friends of Lake Lomond have a fourth of a million pledged from the internal investment group and are looking for others to join them.
“The lake area showcases an aspect of nature that can become an additional leg of the main city walkways. This will also be surrounded by uses that we plan to turn toward the lake so that three or four
years from now, a family could get on their bikes at the Loop and Bill Owens, and they could ride their bikes down to here,” President of Friends Lake Lomond Hudson Johnson said. “families can come to have a hot dog, or beer, whatever we have down here, check out the shops, or whatever tenants we get. We want this to be a fun little spot to come fishing, kayaking, walking, and more. It’s not even a mile from Lear Park which hosts soccer matches and baseball games, so it’s convenient for families to stop by in between games or after.”
Currently, Evergreen Food Factory is one of their tenants surrounding Lake Lomond. They are a Korean fusion restaurant with unique and flavorful offerings different from any place in Longview. Flugers is another tenant. This is a retail bicycle shop that also offers outdoor equipment for other adventures. Looking forward, the owner of Flugers is also working on a food truck park on his property. He bought into the vision early on and is doing everything he can to provide spaces for visitors to enjoy their time.
“For the people that are relocating, it’s a huge step in the right direction. It’s a good model for not only our city but others to show that we have these natural resources, so open them up to the public and let people have access to them. I think that you’ll see if you invest in something like this, it will come back to help the city enormously. People love having access to these kinds of things. I personally cannot wait until we have a trail that connects all the way around the city.” Johnson said.
Several groups have come out to volunteer on the property to help pick up trash and clean the area. The first group picked up three 30-yard dumpsters. There are several teams that have donated their time to help beautify the lake.
Johnson said.
