By Becky Maxedon
Leaves rustle in the mild breeze. Birds chirp and the water laps against the shore.
What is this restful oasis in the desert that offers up amenities for all ages?
It’s Rotary Community Park in Lake Havasu City.
For those who frequent the park, it’s probably not top of mind to think about how the park came to be.
A treasure trove of slides were recently unearthed at the Lake Havasu Parks and Recreation Department and they have been digitized. The photos were actually the impetus for this walk down memory lane.
Enter Dick Samp.
Parks and Recreation Director Dick Samp at a ground breaking for the Aquatic Center in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Samp was a visionary park builder from Placentia, Calif., who relocated with his family to Lake Havasu City in the mid-1970s. He died in 2007.
RiverScene Magazine recently sat down with Samp’s son, Kenny Samp.
“My dad was the Parks and Rec Director in Plansentia, Calif., from 1965 to 1976 – the year we moved to Lake Havasu. And then he ran the bowling alley here,” Samp said. While in the position in Placentia, Samp said, his father developed 11 parks.
He said that through the bowling alley in the early days, he built relationships with local businessmen and leaders.
“He was in Rotary. The Rotary back then was one club and was influential to the growth of Lake Havasu, right at the beginning when we had no services,” he said.
Dick Samp putts at a Parks and Recreation fundraiser. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu Parks and Recreation
Dick Samp had the idea to build Rotary Park on 40 acres but it was a big controversy. Some on the city council didn’t want to spend the money on it and some did.
Fellow Rotarian John Parrott told RiverScene recently that Samp approached the London Bridge Rotary Club and asked for a donation to get the park going.
“Rotary had $100,000 in coin sales at the time. At first, they were going to build a pool at the high school with it. But then it shifted to a different project because the high school just wasn’t into a pool at the time because of upkeep, etc.,” Parrott said.
“Rotary said they could have $100,000 but Dick didn’t need that all at once. So they made an agreement that Rotary would give the city $10K a year for 10 years,” he said.
With that and a State Lake Improvement Fund (SLIF) grant, it was off to the races.
Jack Hardie Park was Samp’s first in Lake Havasu City.
Jack Hardie Park in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu Parks and Recreation
“Dad was behind the original effort as far as parks go,” Samp’s son Kenny Samp said.
“The city council and mayor decided the city was getting big enough they needed to be proactive with their parks and recreation direction and they asked my dad for his consultation on how to get started. How to go about it. What was required to not only build the parks but to maintain the parks to staff the parks to budget – how to get grants. He was able to write grants and all of a sudden things started happening,” he said.
Much of what Samp accomplished was on his own time. He volunteered, offering his organizational skills as well as his knowledge of building parks.
Samp was hired by the city in 1990 and with that, came his vision for Rotary Community Park.
Rotary Community Park, formally known as Mud Shark beach to locals in the 70s-90s, in 1991 before contruction began. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
The 40-acre site was a popular recreation area in the early days of Lake Havasu City, called Mud Shark Beach by the locals. They rode motorcycles, trucks and three-wheelers, launched boats and jet skis and partied. Many weren’t excited about the prospect of their playground making way for a park.
But the project went forward.
Samp was hired by the city in 1990 and the rest is history, as they say.
Rotary Beach, formally known as Mudshark Beach to locals before contruction began in 1990. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu Parks and Recreation
Marcus Montepagano aka Monte was hired as Turf and Irrigation Leadsman after the Rotary Community Park project was already underway.
“The irrigation main lines were 90 percent complete and we were starting the planting and irrigation zones installation,” Monte said.
“As far as the length of the project, I was hired after the project started and worked on it for seven months and was in charge of the 90-day guarantee of the plants and irrigation.
A backflow device is installed at Rotary Park that feeds all the irrigation and bathrooms in the park in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu Parks and Recreation
“Dick hired me after that. He wanted someone who knew the park. I’m forever grateful to that man. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would have made it here with my wife and son. Havasu has been very good to my family. I moved from San Diego 37 years ago,” Monte said.
“My best guess would be that it took at least a year,” he said.
He said the company that did the work was Valley Rain out of Phoenix. The superintendent of the project was Jim Sullivan and the parks crew at that time who put the playground equipment together was Robbie Ford manager, and the maintenance techs were Alberto Davalos, Billy Morrison, Doug Davidson, Keith Johnson, George Westhoven, Ruby (Bee) Hill and Dick Samp.
Marcus Montepagano plants trees at Rotary Park in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu Parks and Recreation
“The trees and plants were all desert friendly. The current landscape has really changed from the beginning due to die off. Maintenance requirements in the 2000s water consumption and conservation efforts started taking priority.
“One of the concepts of the park was to have grass areas for the community. Turf is a beast. It takes a ton of water and maintenance. Not only that, but the events on the turf areas, plus the 115-plus heat definitely made it more challenging to grow grass in the desert,” Monte said.
Although Monte said he didn’t know the botanical names of the trees, there are some original trees remaining in the park.
A worker walks along the promenade at Rotary Park after trees were planted in 1991. Photo courtesy Dick Samp/Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation.
“The original trees that are still there are eucalyptus scattered throughout the park. Chinese Elms are planted on the boardwalk and a few are scattered around the park. Chinese Pistach – those were planted around the big playground and scattered around the park. Allepo pines are in the bowl and planted in the north parking lot and around the North Park Host. The original mesquite tree was a Chilean mesquite which is a hybrid. It doesn’t have thorns. The problem was during high winds, branches would break off. They would even break in half so we replaced them with Colorado mesquite – much stronger but they have huge thorns on the branches.
“We can’t forget the saguaro cactuses on the corner of the left turn into the park, standing like soldiers at attention.”
Monte said much of the original shrubbery is gone because of die off and the water conservation implemented.
“We would convert the irrigation, which would eliminate 90 percent of the bubblers, cutting our water consumption on these zones by at least 75 percent,” he said.
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
“The Parks department was fortunate to have arborist Crag Geary. We would work together picking out trees, converting irrigation and planting them.
“We can’t forget the Memorial Tree Program that was started at the very beginning. People would purchase a tree and a plaque for I believe $600. Those funds at first helped pay for the park’s construction. It was so popular the Parks department kept the program.
“We were planting so many trees that our arborist applied for Tree City USA. The Parks department has won that award for 25 years in a row and continues to this day.”
Monte said the last planting project he was fortunate to work on right before his retirement was the Butterfly Garden at the entrance to the park.
“It was built to help with the Monarch Butterfly population which is depleting. The Colorado River is along the flyway from Canada to Mexico.
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
“We planted a lot of milkweed along with other shrubbery for pollinators. Milkweed is the only plant that the Monarch will lay eggs on. Due to growth and construction their habitat is being destroyed. There is a Monarch Society that monitors the population and flight paths. They actually capture and tag the butterflies to track the flights. One of the Butterflies that was tagged in Rotary was found in Cancun, Mexico.”
Another city employee, Tim Rodriguez, remembers being hired in the summer of ‘91.
“It was by Steve Plaza of the recreation department to run volleyball leagues. Both indoor and at the old Junior High and on the new beach courts at Rotary,” Rodriguez said.
“From having that memory of the big playground being built to now having my Certified Playground Safety Inspector certification and now being the Chair for the National CPSI Certification Committee has been truly a blessing. I love my job. I work with a great group of people. They work tirelessly to ensure that the parks are clean and safe,” Rodriguez said.
One of the first playgrounds at Rotary Community Park in 1991. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Current parks supervisor Guy Reynolds said, “Dick was an amazing man, he always had a way to get things done. He was a visionary like McCulloch and was right there up with him.”
Rotary Community Park was dedicated and opened on May 19, 1991.
Kenny Samp said, “When they opened Rotary, he (Dick Samp) didn’t show much excitement. He had a stoic way but he knew it was a good thing. Everyone loves parks. He had the ability to do it and he worked with people and got the job done.
“I was by his side to see how he got things done. He worked with people. He communicated with people. The people had a common bond that we’re here. This is something good and I want to be a part of it.” Samp said, “We’d do tours of the park site and everything was torn up. Landscaping was stacked up on the side. It was ready to be staged and put in pipes and all the irrigation and concrete forms were here and concrete was being poured and sidewalks were being formed. It was a big day when they put in the sod.”
Sod being installed at the Rotary Park Ballfields in 1991.Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Rotary Community Park is just one of so many beautiful recreation areas in Lake Havasu City. And it took the vision and the work and dedication of many to make it a reality.
If these photos spark a memory, please share it in comments. Or better yet, find the spot where the photo was taken, snap a photo of the location and tag RiverScene Magazine in social media.
Here are more early 1990s photos that were found on slides at the Parks and Recreation Department storage.
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
In 1991 , crews work on digging the area known currently as the “grass bowl.” Photo courtesy Lake Havasu Parks and Recreation
Trees are planted at Rotary Park in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu Parks and Recreation
Rotary Park under construction in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Lights being installed at the Rotary Park Ballfields. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
The first “little kids playground” at Rotary Community Park being built in 1991. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
The “grass bowl” being constructed at Rotary Community Park in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Rotary Beach, formally known as MudShark Beach in 1990 as construction was starting. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Construction of Rotary Beach in 1990. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
A worker walks along the promenade at Rotary Park after trees were planted in 1991. Photo courtesy Dick Samp/Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation.
Concrete being poured in 1991 at Rotary Park in Lake Havasu City, AZ. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
A ramada is being built at Rotary Park in the early 1990’s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
The ballfields being built at Rotary Community Park in Lake Havasu City. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu Parks and Recreation
Dirt being prepared near the Bridgewater Channel in 1990. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Monte Montepagano and two laborers plant a tree at Rotary Park in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Rotary Park in Lake Havasu being constructed in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Grass being laid at the Rotary Community Park Ballfields in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
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Ramadas being installed at Rotary Beach in the early 1990s in Lake Havasu. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Benches being placed at Rotary Park to be ready for installation in the Ramadas in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
The guard shack being built at the entrance of Rotary Park. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Grass being put in at the Rotary Park ballfields in the early 1990s.Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
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Lake Havasu City’s Rotary Community Park in 1990. This restroom is located near where the Tinnell Memorial Sports Park is located in 2026. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
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Lake Havasu’s Rotary Community Park being built in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation
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