The long-awaited opening of Lee Lake — the City of Bartlesville-owned fishing lake located on Adams Boulevard just east of Silver Lake Road — is set for Saturday, Nov. 14.

Construction on the lake property has been ongoing for several months in conjunction with stocking the lake, which is nearly complete.

“The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife has begun stocking the lake,” said Community Development/Parks & Recreation Director Lisa Beeman. “So far the lake has been stocked with around 4,400 six-inch channel catfish, 21,000 fingerling hybrid sunfish and 85,000 fingerling bluegill sunfish, and the largemouth bass will be coming next Spring.

“When the aquatic education events, or fishing clinics, are set up, the state plans to stock several hundred catch-able sized catfish and hybrid sunfish also.”

The Lee Lake property, which was donated to the City of Bartlesville several years ago by MJ Lee, includes the 16-acre lake, complete with a boat ramp, dock and three “finger islands,” as well as asphalt trails connecting to the city’s Pathfinder Parkway trail system, soccer fields, restrooms and Cooper Dog Park.

The lake project was initially pitched to City of Bartlesville officials several years ago, after the city was identified as a community having a lake with convenient access inside the city limits, which made it a candidate for federal grant funds, administered by the state of Oklahoma.

The project is funded with about $230,000 in federal grant funds, with the City of Bartlesville pitching in about $750,000 — a good portion of which was obtained from the sale several years ago of BarDew Lake, a small lake located on the northern end of Virginia Avenue that was jointly owned by the cities of Bartlesville and Dewey. Responsibility for the lake and its aging infrastructure fell to Bartlesville after the City of Dewey announced it could no longer afford repairs and upkeep at the site. The Bartlesville City Council eventually voted to sell the property rather than make costly repairs to the dam, at which time it was sold to a citizen, who provided the highest bid for the property.

“The City’s portion of the funding are funds from the sale of BarDew Lake,” said Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen. “The City Council at the time stipulated that the money from that sale be used for the development of a lake or similar project.”

The fishing lake project was identified as part of the city’s half-cent 2008 Capital Improvement Projects, and was one of the “70 percent projects” disclosed to voters during the CIP election.

The lake property was originally a “borrow pit,” where dirt was stored during the widening of the adjacent Adams Boulevard.

“We’ve reshaped the bottom of the lake to include some areas that are shallow, some that are eight to ten feet deep and rolling terrain,” Lauritsen said. He said the terrain is designed as an optimal fish habitat.

Citizens are welcome to enjoy the park now, but fishing in the lake is restricted until the opening, Beeman said.