Posted on May 10, 2019
The pond at Center Springs Park is as much as four feet deeper after a contractor cleared muck and trash that had piled up over two decades.
The dredging was part of an ongoing effort to raise the park’s profile and make it more of a destination. Late last year, Missouri-based Energy Resources, Inc. completed removal of 11,000 cubic yards of sediment from the six-acre pond, Town Engineer Jeff LaMalva said Wednesday. The cost was $656,054.
The next step is sodding of ground adjacent to the pond, where the muck was stored in giant draining tubes. The sod would have been laid sooner, LaMalva said, but steady rain delayed the work.
Last dredged about 20 years ago, the water quality in the pond had worsened steadily as sediment built and algae blooms lengthened, depleting oxygen. The contractor used a barge equipped with a “cutterhead dredge,” a rotating bit that dug into the sediment, which was four feet deep in places.
Made up of sand, bacteria, pollutants and nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, the material was sucked through a flexible line that carried it to a screener, where rocks, branches and other large debris were removed. The muck was then fed through equipment that removed the sand, which LaMalva said was sold to a contractor.
The remaining sediment flowed into dewatering tubes laid out to drain back into the pond. Along with the sediment removal, the project also included removal of trash people had thrown in the pond over the years, he said.
General Manager Scott Shanley said the next job on the pond is installation of aeration equipment. That work is planned for next fiscal year, but officials will hold off on starting the project until the state budget is finalized, Shanley said, “to determine any impact on the capital fund for state assisted projects.”
The dredging and cleanup was part of a master park improvement plan announced last year. Located in a depression bounded by Center, Main and Broad streets, Center Springs has been called a hidden gem. The introduction to the master plan says it is a beautiful place with “unrealized potential.”
Created in 1917 with land donations from the Cheney and Hilliard families, the 57-acre park was a popular gathering place for ice skating and other activities for decades. But use diminished and, by the 1980s, the park had fallen into disrepair. Many residents have said they did not know about Center Springs, or saw it as a a hangout for vagrants, a place to avoid.
More attention has been focused on the park over the past several years. A friends of the park group was established, a disc golf course was installed, town workers cut down dead trees and removed brush and a new entrance was created last year on the Broad Street side. Police increased patrols to curb alcohol use and other illegal activity.
Still, the master plan says, visibility and accessibility remain problems. “While the park’s location is prime, its geography has at times stifled its potential, ” the report says.
Proposed improvements range from low-cost work, such as brush clearing and sign installation, to projects that could cost as much as $250,000, including major new gateways, amphitheater-style seating and relocation of the playground.
Source: courant.com
