THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9506300216
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Besides the fact that it's the Fourth of July, another reason for this year's celebration at Lakeside Park is the park itself.
The park will be rededicated on Independence Day after undergoing renovations, dredging and drainage improvements, said Nancy Schucker of the city's Public Works/Engineering division.
For more than a year, Waterfront Marine Construction Inc. has been busy working on the park. The lake has been dredged to improve its water quality by reducing algae and its accompanying odors and to enhance fish life. Drainage improvements were made, making the lake a storm water management facility, Schucker said.
In addition, the firm has replaced the park's decaying timber bulkhead and removed and replaced the pedestrian bridge.
The bridge has been designed for a long service life of at least 40-50 years and to improve the aesthetics of the park's main feature, she said. The bulkhead around the lake was made of steel piles and a white concrete cap.
The contract was awarded to Waterfront Marine after a public information meeting in February 1994 at Truitt Middle School. The park project was part of the City's 1992 Capital Improvement Budget.
Throughout the years, Lakeside Park has been a focal point in the South Norfolk Borough, Chesapeake oldest residential community and home to the city's historical district. It has been host to such city sponsored or community oriented events as Earth Day, Clean the Bay Day, the Fourth of July, Chesapeake Fall Fest, Senior Citizens Picnic, South Norfolk Citizens Day and the annual Christmas ``Light the Bridge'' ceremony.
Schucker said the park began in the early 1900s when mill workers and residents cleared away a marshy area to construct a dance pavilion, which would later be augmented with a merry-go-round, swings, slides, picnic shelter and concession booth.
Trolley cars from the Berkley Street Railway and Light Co. ran from the Berkley ferries to the park. Dances became so popular there that another bandstand had to be erected.
But soon residents went elsewhere for recreation, and by 1933 the park fell into disuse and disrepair, Schucker explained. Later, park and lake restoration was enacted as a project of the Work Progress Administration during the Depression. Other repairs and improvements were made in 1954 and 1971. by CNB