Public invited to open house, ribbon cutting for new Thomson Ranger Station

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, invites the public to an open house at the Thomson Ranger Station in Thomson, Illinois, May 29 from 1-3 p.m. with a formal ribbon cutting ceremony at 1:30 p.m. The new building, which is located near the entrance of the Thomson Causeway Recreation Area at 1600 Lewis Avenue, replaces a rented office space that the Corps occupied in downtown Thomson for more than 20 years.

The new, 3,000 square foot Thomson Ranger Station is one of five field offices for the USACE Rock Island District’s Mississippi River Project which manages navigation, recreation and environmental stewardship missions across 314 miles of the Mississippi River. The building houses offices and a maintenance garage for the natural resource specialists and park rangers who are responsible for Corps-managed recreation areas between Thomson and the Quad Cities. These areas include two Class A campgrounds, Thomson Causeway and Fisherman’s Corner, as well as one Class B recreation area, two day-use areas, and two busy boat ramps. Annually, these sites are used by nearly 190,000 visitors.

Open house attendees will be invited to tour the new facility, meet the natural resource specialists and rangers who will be working at the site, and learn about other new improvements that have recently been made to the Thomson Causeway Recreation Area.

For more information on the Mississippi River Project and Corps-managed recreation areas along the Mississippi River visit: https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Missions/Recreation/Mississippi-River-Project/.