By Conrad Dudderar
Senior Staff Writer
The City of Yukon is seeking a federal grant to help fund a new fishing dock at an historic watering hole.
City officials are applying for Sport Fish Restoration Program funding administered by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
Estimated project cost is $48,558 for a new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-accessible fishing dock at Mulvey Pond’s inside Yukon City Park off S Holly.
Pending approval of the $23,999 “reimbursement” grant request, the City of Yukon will provide $24,559 in matching funds and in-kind donations.
The proposed new fishing dock will be in a “T shape” featuring two, 30-foot by 8-foot docks and a 30-foot by 4-foot gangway, gangway landing and new approaching six-foot-wide sidewalk.
This new dock’s long pier would allow more people to fish than the current covered “floating” dock at Mulvey’s Pond, according to Yukon Parks & Recreation director Jan Scott.
“Fishing is a great family sport,” Scott said. “We’re just excited and hope we get the grant to get a bigger, pier-type dock out there that will allow more people to fish at one time.”
The Yukon City Council formally approved the grant request at its April 21 meeting. The project would be completed during the 2020-21 fiscal budget year.
As spring temperatures rise, anglers of all ages are finding great relief from Oklahoma’s “shelter at home” order by coming out to fish at Yukon city parks.
FISHING DESTINATION
The new dock at Mulvey’s Pond would be more “open” to allow anglers to cast their lines, although Scott said some parts could be covered to protect people from the sun.
The pond, just east of Freedom Trail Playground, has been a population fishing destination for decades.
The Yukon City Park site has historical significance.
Back in the 1800s, what is today Mulvey’s Pond was the last guaranteed watering hole for cattle drovers along the Chisholm Trail. That’s because it’s a spring-fed pond, according to Scott.
Last spring, a City of Yukon contractor installed a new 10-foot by 16-foot covered floating dock with a 20-foot walkway at Mulvey’s Pond. Yukon’s Friends of the Park contributed toward installation of this $14,000 capital improvement.
If Yukon receives the Sport Fish Restoration Program grant, the current dock will be moved to Welch Park.
“There is a nice pond out there for fishing so it would be great to have two fishing docks,” Scott said.
Both ponds at Yukon City Park and Welch Park are stocked with fish by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife as part of the “Close to Home” fishing program.
“We didn’t know the state wildlife department has grants for fishing docks until we renewed the Close to Home fishing program,” Scott said.
Yukon also has a pond next to the Dale Robertson Center that is a popular destination for fishermen and fisher-kids.
This pond hosts the annual Trout Fish Out, which Scott said was “fantastic this year.”
The purpose of Sport Fish Restoration Program is to “fund construction and maintenance of boating and fishing access facilities on water bodies across the state,” according to a city council memo from City of Yukon Development Services Director Mitchell Hort and grant writer Claudia Krshka.
