Junction Creek inspires art
project
This summer, about 70 people,
most of them between 13 and 24 years of age, created a mural that was inspired
by the restoration of Junction Creek.
The artwork, entitled What Lies
Beneath, was painted on the walls leading to the pedestrian underpass
between Elgin Street and Riverside Drive in downtown Sudbury.
The title refers to the
location of the mural, just footsteps from where the creek reemerges from under
downtown. The creek enters a concrete
culvert near Lloyd Street and Notre Dame, flowing under the downtown core until
it comes out again near the corner of Riverside Drive and Worthington
Streets. The location relates to one of
the aims of the project, helping “bring the creek back into the public eye.”
The project was undertaken by
Myths and Mirrors Community Arts, in collaboration with the Junction Creek
Stewardship Committee. Myths and
Mirrors, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting community arts in Sudbury, has
many successful projects under its belt.
The group obtained a grant
from the Laidlaw foundation to cover the cost of hiring an artist/facilitator
and the necessary materials. Assistance
also came from Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, the City of
Greater Sudbury, the Sudbury Community Foundation, Sudbury Arts Council, Tom
Miller and the Moon Lodge Healing Circle.
Human Resources Development
Canada provided funding to hire three students to coordinate the project.
Topper’s Pizza and Crawford’s Food Basics provided lunches and snacks. EcoWater North donated drinking water and
use of a water cooler and La Galerie du
Nouvel Ontario kindly allowed the use of their space on Elgin Street for the
duration of the project.
Amber Negrazis, 16, Shailagh
Keaney, 17, and Eric Elgar, 19, spent the first part of the summer encouraging
other young people to get involved in the project and conducting
“consultations” to get ideas for the art work.
More than a hundred drawings were produced during this time.
Then, over the course of
several days, Artist Lori Burgh facilitated sessions in which some of the
drawings or parts of drawings were incorporated into a mural design. The design was projected onto the walls and
drawn in chalk. Dozens of volunteers
pitched in to paint the mural over several weeks and it was completed near the
end of August.
Loblaws to expand, protect
creek
The Junction Creek Stewardship
Committee is pleased with plans by Loblaws to protect Junction Creek while
expanding the Supermall parking lot.
In order to allow for an
expansion of Steve’s Your Independent Grocer, the company needed to add
hundreds of new parking spaces. Initial plans, introduced two years ago, had
stewardship committee members concerned about impacts on water quality in
Junction Creek, which runs near the existing parking lot.
At that time, the company
wanted to redirect the creek around the new parking lot, a plan that would have
had a negative impact on aquatic life.
In the summer of 2000, the stewardship committee contacted Loblaws with
its concerns, and the company agreed to hire a biologist to help improve its
proposal.
In June of this year, the
company presented a new plan at an open house attended by a number of
stewardship committee members. The new plan includes construction of a dry
settling pond to reduce sediments from the parking lot, installation of
“storm-ceptors” to trap oil, shade tree planting along the banks of the creek,
and transplanting some of the large conifers from the existing site.
Dr. John Gunn, a fisheries
biologist and Junction Creek Stewardship Committee member, is pleased with the
revised plan. He says the measures
taken by Loblaws to protect water quality should serve as a model for future
development along Junction Creek. That
suggestion was among several included in a letter the committee sent to the
City of Greater Sudbury. The committee
also requested that Loblaws erect a small fence to reduce the amount of garbage
ending up in the creek, and that crushed rock, rather than slag, be used as
fill. Loblaws representatives said they
could not commit to the latter two recommendations, although they would try to
see that they are followed through.
Junction Creek Stewardship
Committee recommendations were taken very seriously by city councillors. At a planning committee meeting later in
June, members of the public had a chance to express their views on the planned
development.
Dr. Peter Beckett and Junction
Creek restoration coordinator Carrie Regenstreif spoke on behalf of the
stewardship committee, urging council members to ensure that the measures
promised by Loblaws representatives would be followed through.
The expansion was finally approved by city council the following
week. Junction Creek Stewardship
Committee members were very pleased with the support received from councillors
on the planning committee. It was
evident that they were well aware of the work we have been doing and were very
concerned that the planned development be sensitive to this. This reflects the steadily growing public
support for the restoration of Junction Creek throughout the city.
MoE report to be released at
fall event
The Ontario Ministry of
Environment will release a long-awaited report on water quality in Junction
Creek at the Junction Creek Public Forum.
The event takes place at the INCO Cavern at Science North, on Tuesday,
November 5, beginnning at 7 p.m.
The report is expected to
offer several recommendations, including one regarding the clean-up of creosote
that was discovered in the Copper Street section of the creek in 1999.
Water quality data for the
entire creek and its tributaries, from Garson to Mud Lake, was collected that
same year, but the report was not finalized until recently.
Everyone is welcome to attend
the annual Public Forum, which will also include reports on various activities
of the past year, including a slide presentatation showing the mural project
completed during the summer.
Following the presentations,
there will be an open discussion, to give members of the general public an
opportunity to offer comments and suggestions to the Junction Creek Stewardship
Committee.
Neighbours organize Nolins
clean up
In July, residents near
Dufferin and Alder streets pitched in to clean up Nolins Creek. Nolins is a tributary of Junction Creek,
joining the main branch as it flows underneath the downtown core.
Inspired by news stories about
the clean-up of Junction Creek, area resident Jerry Pihurski contacted the
Junction Creek Stewardship Committee.
After getting some advice, Mr. Pihurski set to work organizing a
clean-up day for July 20. The Junction
Creek Stewardship Committee offered to loan hip waders and other equipment and
to provide flyers to distribute in the neighbourhood.
Mr Pihurski contacted local
businesses and several agreed to help out.
Nearby Evans Home Hardware provided a truck and two employees to haul
away the debris, which included tires, bottles, bricks, pipes, a bike and knee
pads. Evans also donated soft drinks.
Dumas’ Independent Grocer on
Lorne Street donated hamburgers, hot dogs, buns and bottled water. Skakoon’s Home Hardware also donated hot
dogs and the Croatian Centre donated bottled water. Muirheads Basics donated name tags so the volunteers could get to
know each other.
Area resident Jan Patnaik
kindly donated the use of his barbeque to cook burgers and dogs for the more
than 30 volunteers that pitched in.
Many of the volunteers live in the immediate area, since Mr. Pihurski
spent a lot of time talking to his neighbours and encouraging them to come out
and help.
Mr. Pihurski contacted the
local media and the story was featured on the MCTV News, on the front page of
Northern Life, and in the Sudbury Star.
Members of the Junction Creek
Stewardship Committee were very pleased.
The committee is hoping more citizens will organize clean-ups in their
own area and is more than willing to help with advice and equipment.
In fact, the stewardship
committee hopes to launch an “Adopt-a-Creek” program to encourage groups of
people to keep section of Junction Creek clean on an ongoing basis. Contact us if you’re interested in helping
out!
Shell helps “Give Trees a
Chance”
About 70 volunteers took part
in “Give Trees a Chance” on September 28, spreading limestone near the upper
part of the Frood branch of Junction Creek.
The Shell Environmental Fund
provided a $5,000 grant to the Junction Creek Stewardship Committee for the
Frood Regreening Project. The funds are
being used to purchase limestone and other materials to spread on seven
hectares of land.
Limestone neutralizes the
soil, making it more hospitable for trees and other vegetation. It also reduces the acidity and metal
content of runoff, leading to improvements in water quality.
The project began in June,
when about 120 people helped spread limestone in the same area, and is to be
completed in 2003. The Frood branch of Junction Creek was
chosen because it is beginning to recover following remediation work completed
two years ago by INCO Ltd.
Volunteers plant 2500 trees for creek
This fall, volunteers
contributed towards the restoration of Junction Creek by planting about 2500
seedlings in the Frood watershed.
Most of the seedlings were
planted on September 14. On September
28, a few hardy volunteers stayed after three hours of spreading lime to put
the rest of the seedlings in the ground.
Forestry instructor Marc
Hebert at Collège Boréal raised the seedlings for us.
Junction Creek Stewardship Committee member Dr. Peter
Beckett has worked very hard this year to supervise the tree planting and
liming events. Tina McCaffrey with the
City of Greater Sudbury’s Land Reclamation Program has also provided important
assistance towards these efforts.