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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Cedar Brook Lake project moves along, at last




The newly installed aerator at Cedar Brook Lake.

One of Plainfield's most scenic spots -- Cedar Brook Lake, in the Union County park of the same name -- finally got its long-awaited aerator about a week ago.

Though it is quite spectacular and may at first look like a fountain, its purpose is to constantly aerate the water in the pond, helping to control the growth of algae and make the lake hospitable for fish. One surprise is the low rumble you hear the closer you get to the spary. (You may recall that a few years ago, the pond suffered a mass die-off of fish owing to high temperatures, stagnant water and an algae bloom -- much as Branch Brook Park in Newark suffered this summer.)

And this is not all!




The gazebo's beams are open to the sky, awaiting new shingles.


The roof of the gazebo, long in disrepair has been removed preparatory to a complete replacement.

Once that is complete, the landscaping along the water's edge is put in and the large pile of dirt at the East end of the lake is removed, the project will be complete.

The project, begun in April 2006, has proceeded at an agonizingly slow pace, often with work mysteriously stopping for months on end, but it is good to see the Parks Department is finally finishing it up.

While you're in the park, why not stroll by the Shakespeare Garden, where the bees and butterflies are gathering the last nectars of the summer. You will notice that the pergola supporting the enormous trumpet vines that graced the entry near the stone marker honoring the founding of the garden is gone
(there was serious rotting of several of the posts). One hopes that is only a temporary situation, as the attractiveness of the garden would be much altered by a lack of the pergola.



-- Dan Damon

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