David Hathcock headed down to the lake and has these thoughts and photos for us. Thanks David.

Just another perfect day at the lake. The cooler air pulls mist up to wrap around the trees, draped in autumn. The colors portend the dying of the light for the year, and the natural inhabitants of the lake (humans and dogs) are enjoying the last great days before winter. Work continues as crews thin the underbrush, and pile the dead and dying vegetation to make room for the new plantings.

The headline from RTD says it all, “Forest Hill lake project finished under budget, early”. Much of this is not news to our faithful readers but nice to read.

Richmond finished the $1.7 million project with about $145,000 left in the bank, though some work remains to be done. New benches will be installed around the three-acre lake, along with new decorative lights. Views from the hill over the lake will be cleared and a footbridge installed over Reedy Creek to replace one that washed away five years ago. All of those improvements already are budgeted.

Debra McClane let me know that the new lamps should be going up in 3-4 weeks. Benches should follow. Repaving of the roadways is going to happen but no firm timeline is set. The bridge that was discussed here and here is in procurement so no timeline on that either but the wheels are moving so that is a good sign.

I am going to wrap this up with the following bits from the aritcle.

City officials plan to celebrate the lake’s restoration in the spring, but that doesn’t mean local residents have to wait to enjoy a treasure that many didn’t know they had.

“A whole generation has come up that didn’t know a lake was down there,” said Jonet Prevost-White, an engineer in the Richmond Department of Community Development. “They should know not only that a lake is down there, but how pretty it is.”

This is the last in our series of Lake Restoration Photos. Thanks to David Hathcock  for keeping us all informed through his images and words.

We began this journey in May, when reeds and marsh grasses choked the historic old lake, the remnant of 30 years of neglect (See kathygraziano.com for full archive). We traveled the path through the summer when great yellow machines growled and chewed their way through the silt of 30 years, often as deep as 12 feet. We saw the lake bed exposed, cleaned and reshaped, new drainage basins created and lined with stone, new walls wrapped around the lake, and new grasses and trees planted.

Today we approach the end of the journey, while the greens of lake summer still color the hills but the coat of many colors that is autumn in Virginia begins to be reflected in the lake.  The deer and the ducks are back, the heron fishes in shallow water.

We began this journey as a promise to Richmond that this great project, this commitment to our future, would not be ignored, that it would be documented.

Now the restoration is essentially done, and the Mobile Dredging equipment and crews are on their way out of town. It is to city crews to finish the work, to restore and replace benches and shelters, to replace the historic lights around the lake and the paths.

This will mark the end of our weekly visit to the lake to document the progress.  We will still visit from time to time.

The Department of Parks has given us back our lake and our park. It is up to us to keep it.

A slide show follows that has both the first batch of photos and the last batch of photos.

Read more >

The past two days have been good only for ducks and tree planters, and we had both at Forest Hill Lake.  Contractors are planting about 400 native specie trees, including spice bush and river birch at the wetlands area at the south end of the park.  Water grasses have been planted on the shelf that will be under water shortly.  Forest Hill Lake is within a foot of being at its optimum level, thanks to the rains of October.  By Friday, at least five ducks have returned, and you may be able to pick out in one photo the tracks of a moderately large deer. For all those who waited with anticipation, the result is going to be worthy of the effort.

This special edition was brought to by David Hathcock and the pictures were taken on Friday.

The early mornings may have a chill, but down by the lake it is still the lushness of summer.  The arrogance of the heron has returned. Mobile Dredging has completed the shaping of the lake to its new contours.  Masons are scheduled to rebuild the stone wall where possible, and where the wall is too damaged for repairs, a necklace of grey granite, right-sized to match the old stone, is being put in place. Within two weeks, the lake will be refilled, from Reedy Creek and the springs that enter. Soon the wetlands plantings will be put in place. The uplands at the south of the lake will be reseeded in the coming days.

Report and pictures courtesy of David Hathcock, thanks David.

Update and photos courtesy of David Hathcock. Thanks David.

The big beasts were sleeping later this morning, as crews continue to work on the fine tune of the excavation.  Some of the remaining stone wall is being uncovered, and Reedy Creek is back within its historic walls.  The heron has returned to his (or her) habitat in the upper creek.  While it appears that the contractors will have finished their work within the next month or six weeks, we are now told that the rededication may be delayed well into next year because of an interdepartmental dispute over restoration/replacement of the lights around the lake.  Some of us are still planning a “Welcome Back”
celebration for the lake in January, so we’ll notify you when, so you can come down, have coffee or hot chocolate and admire what has been one of the most successful projects undertaken in the city in many years. This was not a disaster response like Battery Park.  This was a planned restoration, and it involved some careful planning from an engineering standpoint, plus neighborhood involvement.  The lake was even designed to serve as a stormwater retention basin for the entire Reedy Creek drainage, and will serve as a blueprint for how our lake system can serve as regional components of a stormwater management plan.

From a personal standpoint, I have been coming to the lake since I moved to Richmond in 1982.  I am seeing features I have never seen before.

Weekly photos and report courtesy of David Hathcock.

Early morning at Forest Hill Lake, the grunts and chirps from around the lake sound like Pleistocene awakenings. The Mud Cats are busy running up and down the hill, and across the hard lake bottom. The last bit of excavation is the construction of two fore bays to collect silt washing into the lake and to redirect the flow of Reedy Creek to prevent erosion
damage in the future. The swamp base is going in, and the uplands area at the south end of the lake is being dressed with topsoil. Both the upland area and the new marshland will eventually be planted with appropriate vegetation. Some of the stone walls will be rebuilt, while other portions will be replaced with rip-rap. Eventually new benchesand lights will complete the work. I’m still expecting to have HOT CHOCOLATE AND COFFEE BY THE LAKE in January.

It’s time for our weekly update on Forest Hill Lake from David Hathcock. Thanks David.

Almost finished with the hauling out. Engineers are completing the retention basins that will prevent the lake from re-silting in the future and make maintenance easier. When that is complete, residents will see trucks bringing in large rocks to rebuild the lake and its borders. Meanwhile the Vermeer SC 60 TX, a large remotely-controlled stump grinder, is grinding stumps in the upper end, as it is supposed to do.

Thanks to David Hathcock for the following update and pictures.

Tuesday, Sept 8. What the Irish would call a “soft” day. The rest of us would call it wet. Ducks would call it wet. But when one walks down to hill to the lake…the lake is back. The work is unfinished, and the outlines need to be refined, but the lake is back. The historic Forest Hill Lake is back within its boundaries. Reedy Creek is flowing strongly into the lake, and the overflow valve is sending water down to the river. The gazebo peninsula is redefined to its historic shape.

And today is the day (Tuesday) J. R. Pope comes back to work after knee replacement. Welcome back, and thanks for giving us our lake back. Thanks to all who have worked and waited on this project.

Update and pictures from David Hathcock, thanks for keeping us informed on the restoration.

Several story lines this week. This week crews are removing logs from the lake site, some that were down and dead, some that needed to be removed. The log removal, and the removal of the last loads of soil should be completed by the end of next week. The dredging and hauling should be completed. Next, the contractors will be restoring the lake to its historic depth and contours, uncovering and protecting stone walls around the lake.

The bad news is that overnight August 31st, vandals at the dam damaged some of the mechanism of the drainage system. You will see Erin Ziegler in the water manually removing debris so the water level can be lowered. The vandalism will not stop the progress being made. One of the most interesting things today is that the historic bed of Reedy Creek, where it flows into the historic lake, has been uncovered. This rock lentil has not been visible for many years, and after the work is complete, will again be under water. The old stream bed can clearly be seen.

So, some time in the few days, a hallmark will be reached. The final truck loads of trees and soil will be gone from the site. Then trucks will begin to haul rock into the site to rebuild the contours of the lake and the stone walls.

Good news, and good work by Marine Mobile Dredging.

Latest update from David Hathcock:
You don’t have to have a hurricane to have a flood.

The rain over the weekend caused serious flooding at Forest Hill Lake. Even though the 71 year old control valve was open, the water rose to such a level that it overflowed the top of the dam/causeway. You can see around the edges how high the water was around a park bench. The flood also provided ample evidence of how much litter is in the Reedy Creek basin, because it all ends up in the lake.

How much flood, just from a rainfall? If my math is right, 6 inches of rain over a 100-acre drain area means 12.5 feet of water in a four acre lake. If you saw the footage on Channel 12 of the flooding on Midlothian turnpike, all that water ultimately comes to Forest Hill Lake.

Thanks as always to David for providing us this weekly update of the lake process.

The big storm on Sunday did us no favors but progress continues. Pictures were taken 7/14 thanks to David Hathcock. Previous pictures here.

Despite the rain and vandals good progress is being made and the project is about 15-20% done. Thanks to David Hathcock for providing the pictures. Pictures were taken on the July 7th and now are presented in an exciting slide show format.

Previous pictures here.

Friends of Forest Hill Park hosted a small tour of the lake restoration project Tuesday evening and I was happy to tag along and take a few pics.

Mud glorious mud! The yellow object is a baffle that rises with the water to keep excess mud from flowing up and through dam. To the left, beneath the water that has recollected, is the floor of the man made lake.

For more info and photos

Read more >

Exciting developments in the lake dredging project, heavy equipment has been moved to the site to begin work! From Kathy Graziano’s office:

Heavy equipment staging for lake restoration. The equipment will be moved before tomorrow. Next week the dewatering process starts and the lake will become a construction area. If you want access, stop at the construction trailer at the top of the hill and ask for Mr. Zeigler or Louie.

With work scheduled to start any day now on the lake dredging at Forest Hill Park, letters were sent out to those most likely to be affected by the work. 

The City has worked with the Contractor to develop plans to minimize the mess that may occur from the project-both within the park and within the neighborhood….

Read more >

Loyal readers already knew about the upcoming lake restoration but now the RTD has a few more detailsincluding the cost, $1.7 million. The Friends of Forest Hill Park will have more details at their monthly meeting next Tuesday. Details posted here.

The lake, created more than a century ago when the park was part of an imposing estate, has disappeared under tons of silt carried by the creek from upstream construction sites for two decades or more. The process of removing an estimated 40,000 cubic yards of sediment is scheduled to begin late next month, after the city approves erosion and sediment control plans, and take six months to complete.

The print edition of the RTD has some nice pictures that unfortunately aren’t online or at least the free online version. So I am posting this picture instead for a bird’s eye view of the old lake in all it’s former glory.

Library of Virginia, Adolph B. Rice Studio, March 21, 1956, Rice Collection 972A

Images courtesy of VCU Image Library

Close up of the swimming area which is not being rebuilt.

According to an email from Larry Miller of the Richmond Parks and Recreation Department the long awaited work to restore Forest Hill Park should begin mid to late March.  Pre-construction meetings will be occurring over the next few weeks and in a perfect world we should all be enjoying a restored Forest Hill Park lake in late summer. With any construction project it is Mother Nature who has the final say on  schedules so that late summer finish date is probably optimistic. Congratulations to all those that have worked to see this project through.