New Mill Creek Dam ribbon cutting Saturday in Cosmopolis

September 28, 2018 7:00 pm
FILE PHOTO Cosmopolis Mayor Frank Chestnut (left) will officiate a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Mill Creek Dam Saturday at noon.
FILE PHOTO Cosmopolis Mayor Frank Chestnut (left) will officiate a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Mill Creek Dam Saturday at noon.

The new Mill Creek Dam will officially be introduced to the public with a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday at noon at Mill Creek Park in Cosmopolis.

The old, mostly earthen, dam was washed out during heavy rains in 2008, causing heavy flooding in Cosmopolis and damaging the popular park below the dam. Just shy of 10 years later, and with a $3 million grant from the Chehalis Basin Flood Authority, a state of the art concrete, earth and concrete block structure — complete with flood control gates and a fish ladder and several weirs to accommodate migrating salmon and steelhead — will reopen to the public.

Cosmopolis Mayor Frank Chestnut will officiate the short ceremony. Expected to attend are Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen), Rep. Brian Blake (D-Aberdeen), and former Cosmopolis mayor and current Grays Harbor County Commissioner Vickie Raines. It is open to the public.