Getting back into the
loop
Today's
reopening of Lake Montebello after 2 years of repairs delights regulars
Excerpted from the
Baltimore SUN. By Rona Kobell / Sun Reporter August 29, 2007
The lake was their gym,
their therapy, their chance to see red-winged blackbirds and jumping
fish.
So when the city closed
the loop around Lake Montebello for repairs two years ago, the regulars
felt they lost something. Some found health clubs and high school tracks
nearby; others went to the lake anyway, even though only half of the
1.3-mile loop was open and the place looked like a construction zone.
But whether they went
or stayed away, their morning routines weren't the same. They missed
their lake, and they missed each other.
Lake Montebello
officially reopens today, but the regulars aren't waiting. Bikers,
runners and walkers have been ignoring the orange cones and returning to
the loop, happy to be back and thrilled about the improvements.
"The treadmill
will never equal this," said Paul Kennedy, a 48-year-old nursing
technician who has been going to the lake four mornings a week for about
two years. "This is just like a meeting place, a gathering place. A
lot of people are being reunited. It's like a watering hole."
As he spoke, his friend
Larry Jefferson greeted him with a "Hi, soldier" as he strode
past, keeping a pace that was almost a jog. It seemed to be working for
him. Since he returned to the lake in June, the Towson resident has lost
20 pounds.
"Love it, love it,
it's the best thing that could have happened," Jefferson said of
the lake's reopening. "I thank God for Montebello lake."
Though Lake Montebello
has always felt like a park, it is part of Baltimore's water system. Two
plants filter water from the Loch Raven and Prettyboy reservoirs, which
then flows to the taps of residents in Baltimore and Baltimore County.
The lake is filled with the water from the processing, and the leftover
sediment eventually drops to its bottom.
Lake Montebello needed
to be dredged (the City hired Synagro who used a new IMS Versi-Dredge®
for the job) to keep the plant operational and to keep sediment from
reaching Herring Run and, eventually, the Chesapeake Bay, said Kurt L.
Kocher, spokesman for the City Department of Public Works.
IMS Versi-Dredge® working in Lake
Montebello
As part of the $15
million project, Kocher said, city officials decided to improve the lake
and its loop. They got rid of the cattails and phragmites - tall, weedy
plants that blocked the view of the lake - and the old, worn fence and
mesh trash cans. They planted grasses, installed an ornamental fence,
added lighting and resurfaced the road, carefully delineating which
lanes are for bikers and which are for runners. The Department of
Transportation added four bike racks.
"We needed to have
the lake dredged, but at the same time there was an obvious need for
resurfacing the roadway and doing a few more things to make it more
enjoyable for all of the residents in the area," said Kocher, who
as a boy rode his bike by the lake on his way to Memorial Stadium.
"It's much safer than it was before, much more attractive than it
was before."
City workers completed
the project nine months ahead of schedule. Mayor Sheila Dixon will join
several community groups for today's reopening ceremony, which will
include the Morgan State University Marching Band and a display of
historical photos.
One of the biggest
improvements at the lake is a median strip separating the running and
biking lanes from car lanes. Before, drivers often pulled into the
running and biking lanes, leading to close calls with exercisers.
With the weeds gone,
runners and bikers will be able to see the lake. Coming around the bend,
with the sun shimmering off the water and beautiful homes visible on a
nearby hill, Lake Montebello looks more pastoral than urban. But with
Harford Road and 33rd Street close by, it is convenient to many city
neighborhoods.
Jeannine Disviscour,
45, of nearby Hamilton said she loves seeing yellow finches, red-winged blackbirds
and great blue herons fly over the lake as she jogs. Disviscour, who has
lost 35 pounds since she began going to the lake six years ago, ran at
the track at the former Northern High School while Montebello was
closed, but she said it wasn't the same.
"When it closed, I
felt really sad. I didn't know where to go," she said. "I
always see the lake as a gift. I do have to wake up early in the
morning, but I get to treat myself to it."
Nisio Mendonca, a
Brazilian hair salon owner said, "The lake is 100 percent better
now. Before, you couldn't see it. Everyone loves it now."
FOR
MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
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