The Future for
Millbrook Meadow
and Mill Pond
Visualize that brook, widened and shifted a little to the left.
Concepts
offered by Meadow Contractor at public meeting July 23:
After
seven months of study, drilling, testing, measuring and working with
Rockporters, Milone & MacBroom (MMI), Contractors, delivered their report,
and offered concepts for the restoration of Rockport’s Millbrook Meadow and
Mill Pond.
Jason
Williams, Project Manager, told the audience of some 57 Rockporters Wednesday
night that they won’t like all the ideas the team offers. Some ideas they may hate. However, some ideas may make people think,
and ask themselves, “Why not?”
Rockport’s
Department of Public Works and Millbrook Meadow Committee began the project
with MMI as the contractor last December, and the contractor will complete the
first phase with a Master Plan, expected in August.
Here
are some of the high points in the concepts MMI recommended:
Mill Brook: The current stream bed is much too narrow to
handle all the water that flows down from the Millbrook watershed after a rain
event. At its narrowest point, near
Beach Street, the brook is 24 inches across.
MMI recommends rebuilding the bed to allow a width of 15 feet. During normal times, with no recent rain, the
stream will be confined to the middle part of the bed, flowing in a slightly
sinuous course with riffle pools, over a gravel, sand or cobble substrate.
Where
now the brook is soggy at the edges, and where rain storms cause it to flow
over its banks, the new brook will enable people to walk across stones at one
or two places to reach the opposite bank.
The course of the brook will move slightly away from the edge of the
Meadow so that people can walk on the opposite side, and that side will be
sloped more gradually, to allow maintenance.
In place of the invasive plant life there now, they recommend planting
dogwood trees.
Mill Pond: MMI recommends dredging the part of the pond
nearest the dam to its original depth of eight feet. This will mean removing four feet of sediment
that has built up over the years—some 5000 cubic yards. They also propose to remove half the large
field of cattails. Restoring part of the
pond to eight feet will enable it to be stocked with fish again. Cost for such dredging estimated at $300,000.
Young Paula Cole at the edge of the Pond, 1975. Notice
how clear the Pond was nearly 40 years ago!
Meadow:
When the new dam was built, it was designed to “over-top” in heavy rain
events, like the one in May, 2006 that destroyed the old dam. That means the
water in the pond will flow over the top of the dam and down into the Meadow,
scouring out whatever is in its path.
MMI offered a solution to this by providing a dry creek bed design
through the Meadow and into the Mill Brook downstream. The creek bed might be lined with stone, and
provide another interesting feature for the Meadow, and an inviting place for
children.
The
adjacent parking lot is sloped toward the Meadow and tends to flood the Meadow
path, even though it has a catch basin at the edge of its property. MMI proposes to build two “rain gardens”, or
detention basins alongside the Meadow path to capture this runoff.
Play area: MMI recommends replacing the standard swing
set and slide with more imaginative elements for children to climb and
explore.
Performance Pavilion: One concept showed an area for performances,
with a stone-work circular stage and granite slabs forming an amphitheater.
Trees:
The willow trees have lived beautiful lives but now pose a danger as
their interiors are dying and rotting.
MMI recommends replacing them with nice young willows which will grow
rapidly and provide shade and elegance to the Meadow. One concept drawing shows
a row of willows from the Beach street entrance toward the center of the Meadow.
Frog Pond:
MMI recommends restoring the little pond to its former beauty, by dredging
it and removing most of the cattails. The
edges of the pond would be rebuilt to allow visitors, particularly children, to
approach it more easily.
Contemplative Garden: MMI suggested creating a “quiet space” for
visitors to sit and enjoy the surroundings in the area between King Street,
next to the Meadow stairway and around the Frog Pond. One concept suggested relocating the Rockport
Garden Club’s garden to this area and around the Frog Pond.
Path around the Pond: John Sparks began this idea, of creating a
walking path around the Mill Pond. He
advised an Eagle Scout project which carved out 120 feet of path from near the
dam to Union Cemetery, and allowed visitors to see parts of the Pond they had
not been able to reach before. MMI has offered concept drawings of various
options using boardwalks over wetlands. Cost
of such a boardwalk could run up to $300,000.
Entrance: Make it more noticeable, perhaps with a wrought-iron arch, and granite paving stones. Perhaps willows on each side of the path, leading into the Meadow.
Accessibility: In order to make it possible for people in
wheelchairs to travel from the Meadow to the dam, rebuilding of the stairway
and ramp to Mill Lane might be required.
Beach Street Culvert: MMI provided pictures of the tangled mess of
pipes and rocks in the culvert that carries the Mill Brook to Front Beach. This will be a project for the Department of
Public Works to coordinate with Massachusetts Highway Department.
Next steps: Rockporters are encouraged to examine the
details of these concepts and offer their own reactions, ideas and
suggestions. Millbrook Meadow Committee
and the Rockport Millbrook Meadow Conservancy are collaborating with the
Department of Public Works to develop and update a plan to move forward with
restoration. This will involve
soliciting donations from the public, and additional warrant articles for
requesting construction funds.
For
more information on MMI’s “Future for the Meadow” concepts, see http://www.miloneandmacbroom.com/project-center/projectcanter_detail/Millbrook_Meadow_Mill_Pond_Restoration_Rockport_Massachusetts.aspx
Elsa
Loehmann of Milone & MacBroom delivered recommendations for hydrology and
hydraulics in the Mill Brook and Mill Pond. Photo shows her at earlier Visioning session
at Rockport Public Library (May 21, 2014)
For more information, visit
www.millbrookmeadow.org
