By Charley Najacht
After completely disappearing last October and being rebuilt since last November, a brand new Legion Lake Lodge had its ribbon-cutting last Friday morning in Custer State Park.
Area American Legion members raised the American flag in front of the lodge for the first time as Miss S.D. Outstanding 2016 Teen Hunter Widvey sang the National Anthem.
While the floor plan has about the same number of 5,700 sq. ft., it has been completely flipped in that the dining area is now where the gift shop and restrooms were located in the old building. This means that dining customers will be able to have a great view of the lake and its rocks from the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“We’re all excited,” said lodge manager Mike Madsen. He and his staff have been hustling, along
with Scull Construction, to get the facility up and running for the 2016 season. “It just makes so much more sense having windows overlooking the lake where the bathrooms and gift shop were located,” said Josh Schmaltz, vice president of Regency, the parent company of Custer State Park Resorts, the park’s concessionaire.
Schmaltz said the nearly $2 million lodge project was part of the $8 million bond issue approved for improvements at the park in 2014. The $8 million was for water and sewer improvements at all four lodging facilities in the park as well as cabin improvements and replacements. “About half of that $8 million has been spent so far,” Schmaltz said. “The new lodge is all part of the 2014 Custer State Park master plan. The old lodge was rotting away at the foundation,” said Ryan Flick, director of operations for Custer State Park Resorts.
The old lodge originally was located at the present site of man-made Legion Lake, said Lydia Austin, interpretive program manager in CSP. The original lodge dates back to 1913 when the park
was a game preserve in Custer State Forest. At the time the area was leased by the local American Legion post, which is the reason for the resort’s name, according the state Game, Fish & Parks website.
(Photo and story used by permission of Custer County Chronicle)
