Current News

Jane Lichtenberg

Eagle Creek Park is one of the city’s treasures. With about 5,200 acres of land and water, the Northwestside recreation area represents almost half the acreage of Indy Parks. It’s the sixth largest city-owned park in the nation.

But maintaining the park is a challenge for the city. Dr. Michelle Cloud of the Citizens Advisory Committee of the park’s foundation recently sent a letter to Mayor Greg Ballard noting that the earthen Lilly Lake dam has eroded and run-off has damaged a nearby bridge.

Cloud noted that Indy Parks has added soil to the dam and patched holes in the bridge with metal plates. But the bridge needs to be replaced and the dam requires extensive rebuilding.
Indy Parks spokeswoman Kristen Weaver said the work was placed on Indy Parks’ Capital Improvement Project list after a 2003 assessment. But other projects in the aging parks system that directly affect visitors’ health and safety compete for the same money needed for the Eagle Creek project, Weaver said.

Indy Parks has asked the Eagle Creek Park Foundation to raise half of the money for the project, which is estimated to cost more than $538,000.

Meanwhile, the parks department has identified short-term solutions until the project can be funded. They include:

--Keeping the water level of Lilly Lake below the levee to avoid a potential flooding threat to the bridge.
--Placing a steel plate over the depressed pavement on the bridge.
--Cleaning the drainpipe to prevent future overflow onto the street during heavy rains.
The dam and levee are not failing, Weaver said. Most of the soil erosion is the result of heavy rain and settlement caused by water leaking through rusted sections around the culvert pipes, creating an earthen void where soil is washed away.