PETIT JEAN STATE PARK — Mather Lodge at Petit Jean State Park is preparing to reopen after a $4.3 million renovation.
The facility will open next Tuesday, when visitors will see a new restaurant that's included in 6,000 square feet of additional space.
Workers added restrooms, replaced the swimming pool and updated guest rooms. The new facilities are built in the Depression-era style of the original, so they tie into the overall look of the grounds. The previous restaurant had been built in the 1960s.
The park is an hour west of Little Rock and draws 400,000 visitors annually.
State parks officials closed the lodge in December 2010 for the renovations, but cabins and campsites remained open.
Much of the park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration during the 1930s.