Saving a dam

[Spiel]

Saving a dam

 

 

March 19, 2009

Eric McGuinness / The Hamilton Spectator

 

Gary Yokoyama, the Hamilton Spectator

 

 

GREENSVILLE Ken Blackwell, who's lived near Crooks Hollow for 31 years, was surprised to read in The Spectator that the Hamilton Conservation Authority planned to rip out the crumbling, 96-year-old Crooks Hollow Dam on Spencer Creek.

 

"It's an eight-minute walk from my house, my kids grew up playing near the dam and ever since the Optimist Trail was built three years ago, I've come to appreciate the hollow more than ever. It's an unmanaged area, quite a contrast to Webster's Falls Park, which is groomed."

 

Blackwell says he and his neighbours enjoy seeing the dam and the 600-metre long reservoir that attracts geese and ducks, is popular for fishing and serves as an emergency source of firefighting water, though it hasn't been needed for that for many years.

 

"There's a huge disconnect between the points of view in the plan for getting rid of the dam and reservoir and what people around here feel about the place," he says.

 

More than 550 people have signed a save-the-dam petition circulated by Blackwell and artist Renate Intini. Blackwell has also created a Facebook page that's attracted 260 supporters, and west Flamborough Councillor Robert Pasuta has convinced the authority board to ask staff for a new report on the planned demolition next month.

 

"I'm touched to find kids I coached in ball and hockey 25 years ago joining the group," Blackwell says. "The hollow and what we're used to there is part of everyone's background. You go down there frazzled and after about five minutes you become calm."

 

Repair costs, originally thought to run from $2 million to $3 million, are now estimated at $1,236,000, which includes major maintenance again around 2040. Demolition, dredging of sediment and rehabilitation of the streambed is put at $945,000.

 

There have been mills and dams in the hollow since the early 1800s, when it was home to the first paper mill in Upper Canada. The present dam was built to supply drinking water to Dundas.

 

Since the Christie Dam was built upstream in 1972, the Crooks Hollow Dam does little to provide flood control, and consultants say the creek would revert to a more natural state without it.

 

Blackwell says he's pleased the authority board "is showing flexibility in its willingness to take another look."