WEST DAYTON SITE IS AN ATTRACTION ONCE MORE
Lakeside Lake revived with cleanup, fishing pier, paths, lighting.
The roller coasters and carnival games are long gone, but Lakeside Lake in west Dayton is expected to attract fun-seekers once again, thanks to a new fishing pier that was unveiled last week.
The 10-acre lake was once part of Lakeside Amusement Park, which operated from 1890 until the mid-1960s.
The lake fell on hard times after that, and its shoreline and surrounding green space became overrun with trash.
Honeysuckle and other invasive plants also marred the beauty and blocked the view of the lake from homes in the Pineview neighborhood, which sits at one of the highest elevations in the city, according to the city officials.
But over the course of six months, volunteers, including residents of the nearby Lakeview and Pineview neighborhoods and local unions members, worked to clean up the shoreline and areas around the lake.
They cleared out honeysuckle, removed tons of litter and even discovered and removed a car in the lake. The clean-up has greatly improved access to the lake with new pathways, lighting and signage.
“I tell the joke that in one of the clean-ups recently, I showed up a little late and my excuse was, I couldn’t find the lake, because it didn’t look like it did before,” said Lisa Rucker, president of the Pineview Neighborhood Association.
The renewal of the lake has reached another level with the addition of a floating fishing pier and two new iron benches.
The new amenities will reconnect local residents to the springfed lake, which continued to be used by some fishing enthusiasts even when it was in terrible condition, officials said.
The initial costs of the first and second phases of the project is about $150,000.
The new pier and benches, and the labor needed to build and install them, have been donated by the Ohio AFLCIO, the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance and the Ironworkers Local 290. The lake cleanup and restoration was selected as the alliance’s and Ohio AFL-CIO’s annual conservation project.
CityWide, a nonprofit development corporation, also was a major partner on the clean-up and beautification efforts.
“We’ve been talking about this Lakeside Lake for years, and as one Pineview neighborhood resident said, ‘This work has been 40 years in the asking,’” said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley.
Organized labor came to the rescue to make this project happen, and the Pineview neighborhood will long remember “who stands with them,” Whaley said.