MAHONEY STATE PARK — They carved the park from raw ground on the south bank of the Platte River, a prime spot just off the interstate and halfway between Lincoln and Omaha.
The land — much of it covered by fields of corn and soybeans or native oak forest — had belonged to Irene Philpot, a retired schoolteacher who frequented nearby Platte River State Park in the mid-1980s and thought something similar could be made from the run-down farmstead she owned upriver.
"I think partly she knew farm values were going down, and she wanted to sell her farm," said Roger Kuhn, a longtime administrator at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
A $12 million investment, $10 million of it from private donors, helped transform those 430 acres and their surroundings into Nebraska's flagship state park and one of its top three tourist attractions.
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Eugene T. Mahoney State Park, named for the former Game and Parks director who championed the project, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Joanie Stone and her husband, Al, were there when the gates first opened in May 1991.
"My husband was the second trailer in," she said. "To me, it's just like being home."
The couple started Mahoney's camp host program a few years later, volunteering weeks at a time to help keep the sites orderly, guide visitors and communicate with park administration. Joanie, a retired human resources manager from Omaha, commuted to and from their campsite for work.
When Game and Parks purchased a trolley to shuttle people into the park for dinner at Peter Kiewit Lodge and a show at Kountze Memorial Theater, Al became the first driver.
Their daughter, Michelle, worked at the miniature golf course in high school, then took a job in the park's administrative office in college.
Joanie also helped raise money to plant more trees at Mahoney and has testified before the Legislature about the need for more parks funding.
"We have seen the park really grow," she said.Â
Unlike other state parks in Nebraska and elsewhere, which rely more heavily on their natural surroundings, Mahoney has banked on a wide range of amenities, cozy cabins and lodges, event spaces and structured activities.Â
"A lot of people point to Mahoney State Park as an example of where they want to be or where they want to go with future park development," said Jim Swenson, parks administrator at the Game and Parks Commission and a former Mahoney superintendent.
In addition to trails and campgrounds, Mahoney features a 40-room lodge with a restaurant and meeting areas, an activity center with an indoor playground and ice rink in winter, a water park and 57 cabins.
Turning Philpot's plot into the state's plushest park took years, starting with the land deal brokered by Eugene Mahoney himself with help from Kuhn, who worked as the director's personal assistant and later became park superintendent.
A former Omaha cop and state senator, Mahoney was also a legendary fundraiser. He convinced the foundation of big-time Omaha builder Peter Kiewit to purchase the farm for the state.
Other big donors lined up as well — names like Lauritzen, Owen and Scott, in addition to other contributors to the Game and Parks Foundation. "They could see the vision, too," Kuhn said.
Game and Parks acquired another 70 acres to the east for Kiewit Lodge and CenturyLink Lake, and about 200 acres to the west, now adjacent to Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum.
The big surprise was a $5.2 million interchange project that opened shortly before the park, providing visitors with quick access off Interstate 80 instead of the longer drive on U.S. 6 through Ashland.
That new interchange "wasn't even on the drawing board" when planning for the park started, Kuhn said, and it opened the door for future developments like the SAC Museum, Quarry Oaks Golf Course and Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari.
"It's a wonderful location for a park," said Swenson. "It’s just kind of built upon itself now."
Mahoney has become a gateway to outdoor recreation in Nebraska, attracting more than a million visitors each year, said Jake Rodiek, the park superintendent.
"They really get a great view of the entire state of Nebraska park system," Rodiek said. "It's a park for all seasons and for all families to come out and enjoy."
Traffic still peaks in the summer, when some 100,000 people visit Mahoney's family aquatic center, and campsites and cabins draw big numbers for reunions, family vacations, and lodging during the College World Series.Â
The $4.5 million, privately funded aquatic center opened in 2002 and expanded the park's original L-shaped pool to include a wave pool, water slides and kiddie playground. Before that addition, would-be swimmers were often turned away because the pool had reached capacity, Rodiek said.
The park's latest additions are three luxury cabins, known collectively as Governor's Row, which opened in 2014.
Other major upgrades will come to this Platte River bend over the next few years.
Officials are raising money for a $35 million venture-park complex that will include new educational offerings and activities such a rope course, a zipline, rock climbing and a floating playground.
That plan would revamp parts of Mahoney and three of its neighbors along the Platte: Schramm, Louisville and Platte River state parks.
"We're going to build upon some of the best features of each of those parks now and expand upon those features even more,"Â said Game and Parks Director Jim Douglas.
Private funding is key in that effort and will eventually account for more than $28 million of the total cost — a continuation of the success that made Mahoney State Park possible, Douglas said.Â
Joanie Stone is excited about the new developments.
Her husband died in August, but she remains a regular visitor at Mahoney, camp-hosting four to five weeks in spring and three weeks in October, like she did with Al.
"We started camping from the time we were married and all we had was a tent on a tin box, basically."
They camped all over the U.S., Stone said, and Nebraska's parks, including Mahoney, have nothing to be ashamed of when compared with attractions in other states.
"We have something right here in Nebraska, between Omaha and Lincoln, that's a beautiful park."