Photo by Emma Delk Oglebay Park’s Falls Drive entrance will remain closed for the immediate future due to road erosion from last Saturday’s flash flooding.

WHEELING — The Oglebay Park Resort Falls Drive entrance will remain closed for the immediate future due to significant road damage sustained during the flash flooding on Saturday.

Oglebay Resort Executive Vice President Rodney Haley said the road will remain closed as they assess the severity of the damage caused by the flood erosion and determine “what it’s going to take to get it back open.”

“We’ll be working with some engineering to determine what road repairs there are going to entail,” Haley said. “But right now, for the safety of our passengers, it’s been recommended that we keep it closed for the immediate future. We may look at a temporary solution versus a permanent one, but at this point, we don’t have that plan together yet.”

The Falls Drive entrance was one of two park areas Haley identified as receiving the most water infiltration. The second was the first hole of the Crispin Golf Course along W.Va. 88, as water carried down from the road. Water also entered behind the Crispin Center Outdoor Pool and into the Haller Shelter/Caddy Camp area.

“Just like everywhere else, the storm drains and streams couldn’t handle the water,” Haley said. “We had excessive water in the basement of the pool building and things like that.”

Haley added that a few sleeping rooms at Oglebay Wilson Lodge had water infiltration and were currently being worked on.

Guests could not leave a few park areas on Saturday, such as Caddy Camp, due to high water. Once the water receded, Haley said they were able to help them out.

“We have a lot of our guests checking out over the weekend, local and non-local,” Haley noted. “They just had to go on some different creative routes to enter and leave, with the majority of the roads leading to the park being closed.”

Haley said lodge guests worked through power outages during the storm, including modifications such as limited menus with cold food items. The park also canceled last Sunday’s Summer Funday Summer Concert at the Amphitheater due to flood cleanup efforts and road closures to the park.

“We made the decision to cancel our Sunday concert series last Sunday, mainly because we felt it was best not to hold that concert because of everything that was going on in the Ohio Valley,” Haley said. “We’ll reschedule that concert sometime later in the year because we know our concerts are a very popular thing for our community.”

Haley said park crews had been working over the past week to get the park “back into normal operations.” This includes cleaning up mud, sticks and gravel throughout the park due to the flooding.

“In general, in light of everything that has occurred in the Ohio Valley, we were very, very fortunate,” Haley said. “We, of course, experienced some heavy water and some damage, but really our thoughts and prayers are going out to the Ohio Valley and all the families that have been affected, directly or indirectly. We’ve had some employees directly affected, and we’re trying to be there for them.”