by Alan Peck, Wilcox Park Manager
Wilcox Park’s 1908 fish pond is restored to its original grandeur. As most of you know, the pond in the Park has been meticulously rebuilt over the past several months by Cherenzia Excavation. The process involved the removal of a century’s worth of accumulated muck, a precise survey, and careful shaping. The expert team at Cherenzia was able to recreate the essential shape and look of the historic pond while incorporating a modern geo-synthetic clay liner and a new, deeper bottom profile. The new pond is performing like a tight drum with the only visible loss of water being so insignificant that it is attributed to evaporation (it takes two hot and sunny days for the pond to decrease one half inch.)
In contrast, the state of the pond prior to its restoration was more similar to that of a sieve. The pond bottom is several feet higher than the top of the natural water table and to maintain the water level the old pond was requiring four hours of water input at sixty gallons a minute every day. It was evident that the pond was losing water through the large separation between the old concrete apron and its clay liner as well as holes in the clay liner throughout.
Further appreciation of what the Memorial and Library Association has accomplished with its pond restoration is realized when considering the tasks required in maintaining the pond in the years prior. Up until about 2005, the pond had a water feed originating from the quarry hole behind Hoxie Buick. This source, although invaluable at its beginning, had become a labor intensive and costly means for providing water to the pond. Each spring and fall the water lines under School Street had to be bled and a pump at the quarry edge had to be dismantled and drained. Several times during the summer months “clogs” had to be addressed at the pump. Air blocks required repeated bleeding of the pipes throughout the summer. The water flow from the quarry was originally great enough to drive the original pond fountain. The head pressure was all that was needed to produce a spectacular columnar spray. However, this flow was reduced by unidentified underground leaks in the half mile stretch of piping running from Quarry Hill to Wilcox Park. Before Hoxie Buick sold the quarry property, the flow had been reduced to a mere trickle and consequently the valve was left wide open for the entire season.
The park also had a supplemental water feed to the pond with its own ground water well and pump added in more recent times. This 25 gallon per minute pump has been replaced with a 60 gallon per minute one and now has ample capacity to top off the pond and feed the Park’s automated sprinkler system. The remaining details of the pond’s restoration include the installation of some native aquatic plants and new fish. If all goes well this Friday, the new five horse power fountain will be fully functioning. The fountain will circulate the pond’s water, keeping it clear while once again restoring the look, sound and feel of the original pond.
Westerly Sun Column