Environmental Progress - Summer/Fall 2002

Environmental Progress : Summer/Fall 2002

Historic Springfield Park Re-planting Roots

Federal 319 grant funds will combat century of erosion, start restoration process

(Top) Bernard Killian, deputy director of the IEPA, talks with reporters under a canopy of colorful umbrellas at the June ribbon cutting that launched the multi-phased restoration. Heavy rain dampened the participants but not the spirit of the occasion. (Center) Ceremonial shovels wait for officals to "dig in" at the ribbon cutting, as geese from the nearby reservoir find the summer rain a nice backdrop for the event. (Bottom) An old fashioned ice cream social including horse drawn carriage rides was held in mid-summer at the park, to invite public awareness and participation in the planned restoration of Springfield's historic Washington Park.

The Springfield Municipal Band played during the ice cream social kicking off the historic Washington Park multi-phase project.

In April of 1901, landscape architect Ossian Cole Simonds took on the job of designing a municipal park outside the western boundaries of the capital city of Springfield, Ill.

Simonds created Washington Park in the unique prairie style of design, with a natural appearance of drives and rolling wooded hills around a large lagoon created by impounding the Jacksonville Branch that flowed through the park.

Washington Park was dedicated in April 1902. It quickly became a prominent part of the Springfield recreational scene; old photos show young gentlemen casually attired (they'd removed their jackets) rowing young ladies around the lagoon.

A century later, Washington Park typifies urbanized natural resources around the state. It has been surrounded by the city of Springfield, while spreading residential and commercial development have replaced grassy areas with impervious surfaces like rooftops, streets and parking lots. The quality and volume of the water in the Jacksonville Branch has changed; siltation has reduced water depth in the lagoon. Boating ceased decades earlier.

In the late 1970s, a sewer line was installed through the center of the lagoon. The lagoon was dredged and a stream channel and side channel lagoon were created. Due to changes in the watershed, severe bank erosion soon became evident along the lagoon banks.

More people living near the park has brought increased foot traffic that tramples traditional turf grass vegetation planted and mowed right to the water's edge. Large areas of bare soil have replaced the grass, allowing rainfall to flow easily into the lagoon, carrying soil and debris and further eroding the banks.

For a birthday gift, a restoration project

To celebrate the park's 100th birthday, the Springfield Park District on June 11, 2002, held a ribbon-cutting marking the multi-phase Washington Park Restoration.

In partnership with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the park district has obtained Section 319 funds to abate the current erosion and restore the banks' natural appearance. Native plantings will be used to stabilize the banks, increase aquatic habitat and increase diversity of flora and fauna. Wetlands will be created. Plans call for restoration to continue in several phases and utilize resources available from local, state and federal organizations as well as individuals.