SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (KTIV/KUOO) -
Crews are putting the finishing touches on the renovation of a historic shelter house on the north shore of Big Spirit Lake.
An open house is set for Saturday, August 11th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Mini Wakan State Park.
The project has been in the works the past five years. Funding came from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the State Historical Society, lakes area foundations and businesses and local and summer residents of the Iowa Great Lakes.
People will be able to begin reserving the facility beginning in 2013.
The facility includes a kitchen and catering area, meeting rooms, indoor restrooms, a roofed picnic patio and an outdoor patio. Stone benches with a walkway that leads to the lake was also included in the project.
The original Mini Wakan shelter was constructed in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The site is listed on the Iowa Register of Historic Places.