The Air and Water Show isn’t the only activity that has Lincoln Park bustling today. The work at North Pond, while not as captivating as the practice runs being conducted as I write, is certainly varied and robust the past few days. The next few weeks prior to Labor Day will be similarly brisk with many projects slated for completion.
The first question that may arise if you’re out enjoying the sights in the sky around North Pond (both avian and aeronautic) is: what’s all that green stuff being sprayed from that very big truck? The truck is a hydro-seeder, and the stuff is a mixture of water, seeds, and germinating material. We will be using this to plant new grass seed in the park areas where grass was disturbed and, a bit later, to establish a cover crop and native seeding of the Pond’s shorelines. You will also see additional straw blankets going down for erosion control and to help seeds establish.
There’s also a lot of work happening at the north end where grading and seeding of the north lawn is happening. Also, just inside the north fence, a new pumping and water regulation system is being installed. This will replace the existing municipal water outlet and will automate it to more precisely control the amount of municipal water utilized, when necessary, for make-up water for the pond. Coupled with the new drainage system installed on the pond’s north and west side, which will contribute additional stormwater from the park to the pond, we hope to significantly reduce the amount of city water needed to replenish the pond. Work also began on the installation of a new drinking fountain near the historic gazebo and removal of some of the hardscape there to be replaced by grass. Old benches were also removed which will be replaced with new ones that will provide better vantage points of the pond in September.
While the work is still in full swing, I hope those of you able to get to the pond are also seeing some of the immediate benefits of the restoration. The hustle and bustle of nature at the Pond this week is inspiring to see and is a nice counterbalance to the human hustle and bustle this weekend when human aeronautics will be on full display (in addition to the avian variety).
Keep your North Pond questions coming to: info@lincolnparkconservancy.org and visit our project web site to keep up to date with this last big project push as we round the corner to project completion this fall. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!
