Jefferson County will reopen Rockford Beach Park along the Big River in House Springs at 9 a.m. Saturday morning (June 17).
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed an inspection of the dam there and said it was not damaged in recent flooding and is still structurally sound, according to a news release from the office of Jefferson County Executive Ken Waller.
On June 7, the county closed the park and Waller asked the Corps to inspect the dam to see if it was damaged. That closure came shortly after Devon Cotton, 14, of Pacific drowned in the river near the dam. He drowned on May 31 while swimming with friends in the river near the dam.
On Wednesday (June 14), Waller met with representatives from a variety of agencies, including the Corps, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the High Ridge Fire Protection District, the Jefferson County Parks and Recreation Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, to discuss the dam and its safety.
“There was an open discussion about safety measures we could take and the suggestions were basically additional signage more than anything else,” Waller said.
He said new signs will be coming in the near future.
“People need to know that this is dangerous," he said. "There is danger all along any body of water – the Big River, the Meramec or a lake. People need to be cautious. They need to take the necessary precautions or wear a life jacket."
Waller said emergency responders did not single out Rockford Beach as any more dangerous than Big River access points at Cedar Hill or Morse Mill.
Waller said he was grateful the Corps reviewed the dam so quickly.
“Their swiftness in getting this done and back to us was very important to us,” he said. “We wanted to find out about the dam and get the park open as soon as we could. This is going to make a lot of people very happy.”