- April 28, 2024
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The city plans to move ahead with interconnecting lakes in Central Park, to alleviate flooding and add more recreation opportunities.
BY WAYNE GRANT | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Local canoeists and kayakers can look forward to expanded opportunities for paddling next year. All five lakes in Ormond Beach Central Park are scheduled to be connected, which will allow small water crafts to travel from one lake to the other.
Working in conjunction with the project to improve Hand Avenue, between Nova Road and U.S. 1, construction has begun to install a culvert under Hand Avenue, which will allow canoes and kayaks to travel from Lake 4 to Lake 5.
City Engineer John Noble said the Hand Avenue connection will be completed by October or November. The rest of the lakes will be connected by January.
The main reason the lakes are being connected is to control water levels with the pumping station now operational on Lake 1, Noble added. Water can be pumped down Thompson Creek to the Halifax River.
But according to City Commissioner Bill Partington, the idea to connect the lakes has been talked about for a decade. The project became a reality this year, though, when Federal Emergency Management Agency money became available.
“The main benefit is to control the flooding, and the recreational use is an extra benefit,” he said.
Steve Waterman, who runs Odyssey Travel Club, which hosts week-long camps for children, said the connected lakes will be a good place to take campers. He also teaches fifth grade at Pine Trail Elementary and said the lakes may even be a good place to learn environmental science.
“It’s a beautiful area,” he said. “There are some diverse ecosystems.”
He also expects the lakes to mostly be used by people in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Holly Zwart-Duryea, an experienced Ormond Beach kayaker who travels the rivers and Intracoastal Waterway, said the lakes might be of interest to novices or those seeking a short activity. She would probably not use them, however, because lakes are “lacking in observable wildlife, comparatively speaking.”
Federal funds will cover 75% of the improvements to Hand Avenue, a project which was prompted by flooding during the 2004 hurricanes, as well as heavy rains in 2009, when the city received 27 inches of precipitation. The city has also applied for funds to build a second pumping station on Lake 5, to further alleviate flooding.
Currently, there are places to launch canoes and kayaks in the Hammock Lane parking lot, a parking lot off Division Avenue and the Central Park main parking area.
Noble said the city is hoping to construct an Environmental Learning Center near Lake 2, where canoes and kayaks could be rented. Volusia ECHO environmental grant funds have already been applied for to help build the center, and the request may be reviewed next year.
At normal water levels, there will be five feet between the water and the top of the culverts. The culverts will be 45 feet long.
Ormond Beach Leisure Services currently has no plans for organized boating, but Stefan Sibley, recreation manager, said he is “excited about the opportunities for residents.”
