Popular state park closed for Memorial Day weekend after wall collapses

A wall collapsed at a popular tourist destination in North Carolina on Saturday night, causing it to close for the rest of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, and likely longer.

People planning to visit Chimney Rock State Park in Rutherford County, N.C., had their plans dashed when a retaining wall collapsed in the park’s upper parking lot because of heavy rains, according to chimneyrockpark.com.

The wall collapsed Saturday and was reported on the park's Facebook page Sunday. The post said the park will remain closed until the collapsed wall "can be assessed and stabilized."

No injuries were reported, but debris fell on to a road below.

No word has been given on when the park will reopen.

The park had recently reopened after being closed the previous weekend for safety-related issues with the same upper parking lot.

The foundation of the parking lot cracked and sank in 2 feet following heavy storms and only reopened May 22, wlos.com reported.

Even after the park reopened, that area of the parking lot was restricted and visitors were blocked from accessing it by concrete barricades.

Park Superintendent James Ledgerwood said that geologists and engineers were working on a plan to rebuild the wall prior to Saturday's collapse, but he warned that continued rain could cause it to deteriorate, according to wlos.com.

There has been no update if more of the upper parking lot is considered to be in peril of collapsing.

This story was originally published May 27, 2018 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Popular state park closed for Memorial Day weekend after wall collapses."