Repair works see plug pulled from 105-year-old lake
A 100-year-old timber jack has been brought out to help repair a 105-year-old park lake.
The jack is being used to push sections of the walls of King Edward Park, Ha¯ wera, back into place where they have been pushed awry by tree roots.
‘‘It’s perfect for the job. It came from one of my timber-milling grandfathers,’’ said parks manager David Bruce, who had the heavy jack stashed in the back of his shed.
The lake was built between 1912 and 1914 for sailing model boats and still hosts an annual scale ships regatta.
But at present the lake is mostly empty for the first time in 10 years while it receives a thorough overhaul.
Walls are being repaired and replastered, leaks fixed and new drainage built.
‘‘The lake has become a bath with no plughole, so we’ve had to pump everything out because the old pipes have been blocked by tree roots and the passing of time,’’ Bruce said.
When full the lake contains 1800 cubic metres of water - and other things, Bruce added. ‘‘Along with the bottles, coins, stones, golf balls, cell phones, cans, cutlery and other memorabilia that litter the lake floor, there is also a significant deposit of sludge, a heady mixture of duck poo, pollen and decayed leaf litter.’’
Some of the water had been pumped over the park’s gardens, some directly into the sewage system, but most had to be trucked away to the Ha¯ wera waste water ponds.
Bruce said the work would take until early June, then it would then be refilled by the winter rain.
A celebratory regatta was being planned for a reopening later that month. ‘‘We have some boats in the shed that have been donated for people to use,’’ he said.