Barth Pond will undergo a $1.96 million reconstruction to repair the sea wall and shoreline, but where funding is coming from is still unknown.

Dan Cermak, park district administrator, said the wall that surrounds the pond, the sea wall, has begun to deteriorate. The wall was built 15 to 20 years ago to prevent soil erosion and has now worn itself out.

“It’s time to replace that improvement,” Cermak said. “(The deterioration) necessitated a study to find what replacement we want to see, and at the same time it has been salting up over the last 30 years.”

According to a memo from Todd Reese, director of parks, the two primary sets of findings in the report suggest a need for dredging and shoreline stabilization.

Dredging is an excavation activity usually carried out partially underwater with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location.

Dredging costs could range from $500,000 to $1 million for maintenance dredging. Additional costs associated with improvement dredging could add $175,000 for increased sediment collection, improved water quality and improved fish habitat.

Shoreline stabilization options range from $200,000 to $340,000.

“The total estimate for edge treatment, dredging, engineering, contingency and other related improvements is $1.96 million,” according to Reese’s memo.

The next steps to begin the repair process is for park district officials to sit down with the Village of Downers Grove staff and determine a set of guidelines to see who might be responsible for which part of the construction.

“The original storm water agreement in the late ’70s, the village paid for the storm water improvement,” Cermak said. “In the early ’90s when the sea wall was installed, we split it 50/50 and we believe the dredging is probably a village responsibility.”

Cermak estimates the repairs to Barth Pond are still at least a year away. At this point there are only discussions about who will do what and where the funding will come from, Cermak said.
The pond area will not be shut down, there is nothing dangerous about being active around Barth Pond, Cermak said. Barth Pond is the second most used park in Downers Grove.

Interruptions may be possible when work actually begins depending on the time of year it is done.

“If the work is done in the fall through March or April there would be very little disruption,” Cermak said. “Typically reconstruction projects would take place during the colder months.”