Morrison Springs Update

[mike_s]

who is Jim Wainwright? I saw his name in the article, but never heard of him.



EDIT: I found this about him.... Aquasphere Photography by Jim Wainwright, Marine Artist and Photographer

 

[huntster70]

Well, My only comment is...... BUS PARKING? There goes the lure of the springs and it's isolation! It was nice to have a place that is secluded to go and enjoy an area in it's natural environment.

Give us back the springs. Get the place completed or partially so we can get wet again!!!!!!! please?

 

[Dive-aholic]

who is Jim Wainwright? I saw his name in the article, but never heard of him.



EDIT: I found this about him.... Aquasphere Photography by Jim Wainwright, Marine Artist and Photographer

I had no idea. I just didn't like that they found someone to quote in the article that's been diving the spring for so many years and supports the changes. It certainly doesn't seem to reflect what the majority of people want.

 

[Tom Smedley]

Simple - When you're trying to justify yourself or when you are a reporter you look through a thousand people for one that says what you want said and you quote that person. My friend who has a large boat on Lake Martin did an hour-long interview with a reporter about the ban of big boats on the lake. Of the hour dialog - the reporter used 20 seconds when Tony said something that she wanted to hear.

 

[jviehe]

I had no idea. I just didn't like that they found someone to quote in the article that's been diving the spring for so many years and supports the changes. It certainly doesn't seem to reflect what the majority of people want.

To be fair, we arent the only ones using it. I suppose all citizens of florida have some sort of right to recreate there.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

To be fair, we arent the only ones using it. I suppose all citizens of florida have some sort of right to recreate there.

Absolutely, but aside from handicap access, how was anyone denied recreational use of the spring the way it was previously? How have the new changes aided in accessibility(aside from handicap access)?



The one thing I'm happy about, is the improved boatlaunch down the run keeping the majority of the motors out the basin.

 

[wb416]

Absolutely, but aside from handicap access, how was anyone denied recreational use of the spring the way it was previously? How have the new changes aided in accessibility(aside from handicap access)?



The one thing I'm happy about, is the improved boatlaunch down the run keeping the majority of the motors out the basin.

Pardon my ignorance, but how much easier could handicap access get than the nice gentle slope that existed into the water. (okay.. you can tell me what I overlooked now.)

 

[SeaYoda]

IMO the best thing about the improvements will be the stopping of the boats from launching at the beach area among divers and swimmers. Second best is stopping the traffic flow on the beach - drunk drivers and kids playing was a recipe for disaster waiting to happen.Third is blocking the local colorful personnel from parking at water's edge like they owned the place.

Morrison was bound to grow. The stupid people who can't behave like adults always ruin things and this is no exception. Things will never be as good as they were before the spring was "discovered" but will be better than where they were heading without some "improvements" to keep things under control. There could have been much worse "improvement" done by the government officials. I'm thankful this is as bad as the "fix" got.


Bob,
I think the issue with handicap access was with the soft sand which is now improved by the boardwalk. I saw one guy in a wheelchair that was brought down to water's edge on a trailer to enjoy the spring. This should provide more independence and more open access.

 

[jviehe]

Pardon my ignorance, but how much easier could handicap access get than the nice gentle slope that existed into the water. (okay.. you can tell me what I overlooked now.)

Wheelchair access.

 

[Capt Grumby]

I just got off the phone with the Walton County Public Information Officer, Chris Mitchell. He has been posting pictures of the construction progress on the Walton County website (Walton County, Florida Online). We spoke for 45 minutes and he was not only informative, but very helpful as well. He sent me a number of additional pictures that he felt would answer the questions I was asking.

Chris is not a diver and was very eager to disclose whatever information he could to the dive community. He has offered to field any and all questions from divers, and will go so far as to go out and take pictures (if he needs to) to answer those questions. He stated that the site is off-limits to the public for liability reasons, but he would be more than happy to escort someone if they wanted to come out and try to get a video of the layout to post on the board.

Some of the nuggets of info he told me were:
1 – New open date is still unknown, but hopefully late July/early August.
2 – There are no plans to charge for entrance or use of the park.
3 – The bathrooms will have showers.
4 – The parking will go almost up to the rear of the pavilion.
5 – There were no trees cut down for this project.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to PM them to me. I will collect them and get them to Chris so that he can answer them with timely, accurate information.

Finally, Chris plans to keep me posted on the plans for the “Grand Opening” celebration and is hopeful that the dive community will be on hand to help kick it off with a bang.

Some of my questions were:
How far from the boil is the boardwalk/dive dock?
Was the underwater platform moved?
Where will parking extend to?
What size is the “Scuba Center” (gear bench)? (The guy standing next to it is 5’7”)

His answers (in pictures) were:


Shot of the underwater platform in relation to the dive dock.

Far shot showing the boardwalk and dive dock in the spring.

Shot of the Boil from the dive dock.

The new pavilion. Spring is behind the camera man.

Wheel chairs will go down this ramp (into the sand) to get to the beach. The new parking lot will extend almost to the pavilion, under the old oaks and back towards the old gate.

Gear bench that is a bit too high and deep. The guy standing there is 5'7". I recommended to the county that they re-address the dimensions of this bench, as it will not serve it's intended purpose as is.