Riverside Park Dam is in danger of being destroyed.
On April 3rd, 2012 I attended the public information meeting in the boardroom of the Preston Auditorium to be informed of the options being considered with respect to the dam on the Speed River at the front of Riverside Park in the area of King Street.
There are basically two options being considered:
- removal of the existing dam allowing the river to return to its original state and naturalize the area. The cost of removal is estimated at approximately 1 million dollars
- replace the existing dam will cost approximately 10 million dollars.
Is this work really necessary?
The necessity of doing this was my first question. Why would I question our politicians? Do you remember the Concession Street bridge? The bridge that had been there, I believe, since the great flood (the one of Moses, not the one of 1974) was going to fall down any day. It was in terrible shape and had to be replaced immediately. They proceeded with demolition, setting explosives, and kaboom! The bridge didn’t move. They had to bring in more explosives to knock it down.
Personally, I think it was a con job by somebody that wanted a four lane bridge instead of the older two lane one. In order to justify it they made up a story and reports to condemn the health of the old bridge and construct the new one. I wonder if that was the case here. Does somebody have a reason to get rid of the dam so they are trying to condemn it. Apparently in 2008 the city applied 50,000 dollars worth of duct tape to prolong the life of the existing dam. Curious, I went to Riverside Park to have a look myself. The dam needs work.

Looking at the dam from Riverside Park you can see evidence of the "duct tape" where the rocks have been piled to reinforce the dam.

Looking up the Speed River from the King Street bridge you can see the rocks piled below the flood control gates on the south side of the dam.

A closer image of the rocks below the flood control gates on the south side of the dam.

The flood control gates on the north side of the dam show definite signs of deterioration,
This does raise the question “Is the entire dam in need of repair or only the flood gate controls?”
I don’t believe there are many users of Riverside Park that would disagree with the statement that it is a beautiful park. It is scenes like this that we will lose if the dam is removed and the mill pond disappears

Sunrise on the Speed River

You will no longer be able to sit here and look out on the peaceful mill pond. It will be gone.

This majestic pine will no longer reflect in the waters of the Speed River because they will have receded at least 10 feet from the current shore.

There will be little water left for reflections

The beauty of sunsets along the river will be lost forever without the dam.
OK, so we lose the beauty. What else might change? I was born and raised in Preston, and like many a local youth I learned to fish on the Speed River.

Fishing above the dam at Riverside Park.
Now, the people that were at the meeting were trying to put a positive spin on this by saying that the fishing would be better without the dam, as the fish would be free to move up and down stream which would result in a better variety of fish etc. I asked them where the fish were going to come from seeing as there is the Parkhill Dam in Galt, a dam in Paris, Brantford, and Caledonia. That’s downstream. Go upstream and there are two dams in Hespeler, so where are all these great fish going to come from.
As I said I grew up in Preston, and as a boy our best fishing spots were further upstream. If you are from the area you will remember Pattinson Dam at the top end of the park. Remnants of the dam can still be seen where the walkway bridge crosses the river at the back of the park.

Pattinson Dam was located here where the bridge now crosses the river.

Remnants of the dam can still be seen along the shore.
My favorite fishing spot was in the waters right below the dam. Having the dam here also meant better fishing water further upstream in Speedsville. In the spring we would fish from the cement bridge abutments where Speedsville Road crossed the river. The removal of that dam dropped the water levels and today I never see anyone fishing these waters.

These waters were popular for fishing throughout the summer prior to the removal of Pattinson dam. Today in the heat of summer you will often find just a narrow stream flowing through here. This is what we will have in Riverside Park if they remove the dam at King Street. Is this what you want to look at or would you prefer this?

Speed River at sunset looking at the King Street bridge.

Looking upstream on the Speed River at Riverside Park.
Surrounding Property Values Could Recede With The River

Many of the tenants and property owners along the river see value in the view. If the value of their property falls with the water level I would think the city could be held liable.
If the dam comes out what happens to the land resulting from the narrower river?
I asked this question of the team of advisers that were at the meeting on April 3rd. They would like to see it naturalized by planting natural vegetation. As I understand it, if they try and reclaim the land for the park they have to do environmental tests on the soil and deal with any pollutants that might be present. Apparently if it was naturalized they don’t have to do that. (my understanding)
Regardless of what happens to the soil, I am totally opposed to ”naturalization.” If you want to see what happens when an area is naturalized I suggest you visit Soper Park in Galt on the east side of Dundas Street. Do you remember what the park used to be like with Mill Creek meandering through it? There was a little dam at the back of the park. In the summer you could find kids jumping in the water, hunting for tadpoles, and generally having a good time. There was grass right up to the edge of the water. Personally, I enjoyed photographing many weddings in the area.
Then somebody got the bright idea to remove the dam, re-route the creek, and naturalize the area.
What effect will naturalization have on the crime rate in the park?
This is something that someone needs to look into and the experience in Soper Park is a good place to begin looking. What was the crime rate in Soper Park in the 4 years prior to naturalization and the 4 years following the change? Living in the area, my memory seems to recall hearing about a lot more crimes; particularly violent crimes, robbery, assault, sexual assault, and rape. It also has a very bad reputation for drugs now. I recently took a couple of walks through Soper Park with my camera and here is what I found.

When they naturalized Mill Creek they added two ponds, one on either side of the creek.
These areas are collectors of garbage and much of the area is not accessible to clean it up. Although these ponds are supposed to have some connection to the creek so the water is not stagnant, I think it was another example of “it looks good on paper.” Walk by here in the summer and the stench of the still water is very evident.

One of the two smelly ponds in Soper Park. Almost always littered with garbage.

Garbage in the pond area. Too muddy to go and clean it out.

Ducks waddling through the muddy mess where water should be.

This is approximately where the dam used to be and kids played. Today you can't see the creek and in the summer the growth is so thick you can hardly hear the water washing over the rocks.

To see the creek you have to squeeze through the undergrowth.

The thick undergrowth catches garbage. Plastic bottles, wrappers, condoms are the obvious sightings.

More garbage

When the leaves come out the bush provides great cover and hiding spots. How much has the crime rate changed. Somebody should be looking into that!
What’s the real cost?
I am concerned that we are not being given the real numbers here and that somebody is trying to force a decision by presenting a one sided view. We have heard that it will cost 10 million to rebuild the dam and only 1 million to take it out.
I would like answers to the following questions.
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Where did the one million dollar number come from and what does it include?
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Does the one million include renovations to the park and the naturalization project or is that over and above?
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One of the great beauties of the Riverside Park is the creek and the pond located in the back half near the tennis courts. If the water level of the river is dropped are we going to lose this creek and pond? I heard they would create a ”natural” diversion of water into the creek and pond. Is that going to end up like the ponds in Soper Park that smell from stagnant water? What is going to be the cost of the diversion? Is that included in the one million dollars or is it another extra?
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Can the ”flood control” systems on the existing dam be replaced or repaired if the rest of the dam is not in that bad of shape?
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Where did the 10 million dollar price tag for a new dam come from? How many estimates have been obtained.

This is the pond in the park. It is drained in the winters. This is what it will look like if the dam comes out and they don't build a diversion.

The stream feeding the pond is one of the prettiest parts of the park in the summer.
This is what we will see without the water diversion.

This is where the water enters the creek that feeds the pond. What is it going to cost to build a diversion here?

Another beautiful sight and access point to the river that will be lost if the dam comes out.
When I was creating the above 4 images I noticed an elderly gentleman walking through the park, taking in the fabulous weather we were having. He was sitting on a park bench enjoying the sunshine and the view as I created this image. As I climbed back up from the bank he commented that it was a great day for taking photographs. We chatted and I told him I was taking photographs to illustrate what we might lose if the dam at the front of the park came out.
It’s only a gravity dam!
He said yes it would be unfortunate to lose the mill pond and all its beauty. After all it has been there for over 120 years. The gentleman commented on what controversy it was going to create. I piped in with my two cents worth saying it was the 10 million price tag on replacing the dam that was the problem. He chuckled and said “I’d like to have that contract!” He then told me he was now retired but spent over half his life building dams. I then got a little lesson on dams.
The dam at the front of Riverside Park is a “gravity dam.” It is not fastened to anything. It is held in place by its own weight, and further constructed so that the weight of the water it is holding back also applies a downward pressure on the dam further enabling it to hold its place. Rebuilding the dam should not be that expensive he said. Simply come upstream 50 feet and build a new gravity dam and then blow the existing dam out.
Final thoughts and what I would like to see!
I have read in the paper that the ancient mariners would like to see the dam removed. The spokesperson that was interviewed for the article in the KW Record went on to say they would in fact like to see all the dams removed. That way you could canoe right to Lake Erie.
I think this is a very narrow minded point of view. If canoeing on the speed river is so popular why are we not seeing canoes on it now? Let’s be honest, removing the rest of the dams is likely not going to happen. Right now, I understand there are efforts underway to raise money to do repairs to the Parkhill Dam in Galt. That dam will never come out now with a multi-million dollar 5 - star restaurant sitting right next to it.

- If it was the Parkhill Dam we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
If the Parkhill Dam was removed where would they hold Riverfest and where would the Cambridge Rowing Club practise. The comments from the ancient mariners was very self serving and focused on an extremely small percentage of the population.
I believe the mill pond on the Speed River is an asset to all of Cambridge. The cost of a new dam (if that is in fact what is really needed) is very small when you consider the life expectancy of the dam exceeds 100 years.
If a new dam is what is needed, I like the idea of moving it upstream 50 feet. Doing so could show many benefits:
On the Riverside Park side of the river is a separate mill run that used to feed power to the flour mill many years ago.

- Mill Run
Connect this area to the main portion of the river below the dam and along the park side of the river where this currently is located build a fish stairway. This would look after any concern of fish moving upstream.
Moving the dam upstream the 50 feet would contain it well with in the boundaries of the park. It would be easy to build a portage area for canoeists within the park, eliminating any need to carry canoes any distance or cross any roadways.
More needs to be done to promote the usage of this wonderful city asset. Just a few suggestions would include canoe and paddle boat rentals, fishing derbys, a Preston rowing club. We could soon see this on the mill pond in Preston

But steps need to be taken now to save this beautiful asset

J.