Spray park re-opens; park damage remains

GoFourth volunteers help with cleanup

Three weeks after epic flooding along Manatawny Creek tore through Memorial Park, the Fountain of Youth Spray Park re-opened Friday.

The spray facility’s pumps were submerged beneath the “three to four feet of water” that got into the pump house during the flood and had to be removed and sent out to a contractor to be inspected, cleaned and repaired, Parks and Recreation Director Michael Lenhart said.

In the meantime, this being the height of summer, borough crews gave the cleaning of the spray park and replacement of the safety material around the playground that washed away in the flood, top priority, he said.

Lenhart praised the efforts of the borough crew, and a set of volunteers organized by the non-profit GoFourth Festival held every July 4th in the park, for getting the island area ready for public use again.

“They all did a great job,” Lenhart said of the volunteers, “Their focus on the island restoration was really integral to getting that ready for public use again.”

Not yet ready for public use is the “Bark Park” for dogs and their owners at the rear of the park. That too was damaged and Lenhart said the borough is waiting for estimates to repair the fencing before it can re-open.

But while the spray park, playground and picnic pavilion on the park’s “island,” are all back in service, there is still a long way to go, and a lot of money to be spent, before Memorial Park is fully operational again, Lenhart warned.

Oddly, because of how localized the flooding was along Manatawny Creek, “Memorial Park really took the brunt of all the damage from the flooding. Most of our other parks were not badly damaged,” he said.

“There’s a significant amount

still to do,” Lenhart said. “We’ve got a lot of the cosmetic stuff done, but it will take time and money to get the core infrastructure back in shape.”

The damage in Memorial Park is “easily $500,000 worth and a lot of that is tied up in the foot bridge,” Lenhart told The Mercury Friday.

The foot bridge over Manatawny Creek between Memorial Park’s main section and

the rear “island” was badly damaged in the flooding, with the main span twisted from the force of the water and the footers undermined by erosion.

Lenhart said the amount of engineering involved in replacing it will be expensive.

“It’s a long-term problem,” Lenhart said. “We’re anticipating that the span, and footers will have to be replaced, along

with some stream bank rehabilitation.”

Also troublesome is the damage to the park’s baseball fields, all of which had their infield sand scoured away by the floodwaters and their backstops damaged when debris carried by the flood water was pinned against the fencing.

But Memorial Park’s ballfields were not the only ones damaged by the flooding.

Novak, Grimm and Sundstrom fields, all owned by the borough and all along Manatawny Creek, also sustained heavy damage.

Those fields are leased by Pottstown Little League

and, in the case of Novak and Grimm, by Sports Enterprises, which has run American Legion baseball at Sundstrom field for decades.

The Little League reported Aug. 1 on its Facebook page it had raised nearly 90 percent of its target fundraising number.

“Upper Providence Little League collected over $1,800 for our league by setting up collection jugs at their field. Additionally, they normally donate funds to the Conor Mckenna foundation, but the family directed them to give the annual donation to our league,” according to the page.

“We’ve also been told that one of their Jr umpires donated her game check

towards our league. Class acts all the way,” Pottstown Little League posted.

“Martin Stone Quarries has also pledged to donate a truck load of infield dirt once rebuilding begins, that carries a value over $1,000 as well,” the group said.

Donation checks can be mailed to: Pottstown Little League, PO Box 1004, Pottstown, PA 19464.

Damage at Sundstrom Field was particularly bad, with one of the dug-outs being completely destroyed.

According to the GoFundMe page set up to pay for repairs there — https:// www.gofundme.com/f/ sundstrom-field-in-pottstown — only $2,190 of the $25,000 goal has been raised so far.

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTO Children and adults can again enjoy cooling off in the Pottstown Spray Park.

EVAN BRANDT — MEDIANEWS GROUP Entire trees, roots and all, that were swept down Manatawny Creek in last month’s flood slammed into the pedestrian bridge in Memorial Park and were held there by the force of the water, acting as a drag that added force to the water’s pressure on the bridge.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY FRANCIS Volunteers organized by the nonprofit GoFourth Festival held in Memorial Park each July 4 helped to clean-up flood damage in Memorial Park during a recent weekend work day.

EVAN BRANDT — MEDIANEWS GROUP The pedestrian bridge in Memorial Park was severely damaged by the July 11 floodwaters and has been closed until further notice.

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTO The Fountain of Youth spray park at Memorial Park is reopened Friday, Aug. 2, after being repaired in the wake of flood damage.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY FRANCIS GoFourth Festival volunteers Amy Wolf and Suzy Kennedy shovel dried river mud out of the island area of Memorial Park.

View from the pitcher’s mound at one of the damaged baseball fields in Memorial Park.

EVAN BRANDT — MEDIANEWS GROUP One of several Memorial Park baseball backstops damaged by the July 11 flash flood.

PHOTO COURTESY OF POTTSTOWN LITTLE LEAGUE Floodwaters wash through Pottstown’s Jerry Grimm Field on July 11.

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTO Floodwaters from the Manatawny Creek destroyed one of the backstops at Pottstown’s Pat Sundstrom field.

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTO Debris from the July 11 storm was caught in the outfield fence at Pottstown’s Pat Sundstrom Field.

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTOS The entire infield of this baseball field in Memorial Park was stripped away by the July 11 flash flood. This is the view along the third base line.