Girard's dam is a vestige of the past that is worth saving

Girard's dam is a vestige of the past that is worth saving
EDITOR:
The vestiges of our Valley's industrial heyday are few. There is, of course, the steel museum, but the mills themselves are mostly shells or are long gone. Downtown Youngstown's once-splendid Paramount Theater is a shambles, and the Jeanette Blast Furnace lingers only in the lyrics of a Bruce Springsteen ballad.
However, there is one concrete (literally) reminder of the proud niche the Valley once held as the nation's third-ranking steel producer -- the Lower Girard Lake Dam. The dam was built near the mouth of Squaw Creek early in the last century to create a reservoir of water needed by the mills. The earthen barrier that confines the upper lake was built for the same purpose.
Entreaties by Girard Mayor James J. Melfi and your newspaper aside, the lower lake's dam should be saved as one last reminder of what the Valley once was. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1999 report on the dam says that it is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
The report notes that the Ambursen-style concrete buttress dam "is one of only two large-scale intact dams of its type in Ohio."
It is impressive to stand beside the lower lake's turbulent outfall and gaze up at the 45-foot high, 450-foot long structure and its spillway. The view north out over a lake (which once covered 99 acres) from the earthen embankment that runs west of the dam is a scenic one. The lake was a popular "fishing hole" before the city had it drained because of the dam's deterioration.
Given the respective costs involved, one is not surprised that Melfi favors cutting the dam down drastically in height rather than restoring it. But I don't know as Melfi should be the judge of what's wise for the Girard Lakes area, since he allowed the area to be logged during his City Hall watch
True, Girard has had serious budget problems, and has even had to pay some $265,000 a year on the debt it acquired in 1995 when it purchased the two Girard lakes from Ohio Water Service for $2.25 million, but timbering such an area is akin to a homeowner burning his furniture in the fireplace to offset high heating bills.
The entire Girard Lakes area of some 600 acres, plus the 99-acre lower lake and the 147 acres covered by the upper lake, should become a park serving the entire county.
Certainly a nation and a state that can fund wars abroad over oil and massive highway projects could afford such a park, which would almost be within shouting distance of the burgeoning Route 422 Strip. Trumbull County sorely needs such a park, as I don't believe it has a single park worthy of the name. (I'm not impressed by the segmented Mosquito Lake layout.)
A Girard Lakes Park, including a restored lower lake dam, would pay tribute to the Valley's industrial past as well as helping to meet Trumbull County's pathetic deficit in outdoor recreational facilities. Such a park, I'm sure, would be greatly appreciated by future generations.
ROBERT R. STANGER
Boardman
We're being sold out
EDITOR:
Girard Lake needs a new dam, old schools need to be replaced, water and sewer lines need to be replaced and extended, our highways are obsolete and in need of repair, we have millions of Americans without health insurance. Large areas of our country are devastated by natural disasters and need large rebuilding programs. Our jails are over crowded and many have to be released to the street before the paperwork is finished so they are free to continue.
Yet the Bush administration has just announced they are going to forgive the $108 million that Afghanistan owes us and give them $1.1 billion next year.
Wake up, America, we are being sold into financial bondage. If you do nothing, we deserve what we get, contact your congressman and congresswoman to stop this. They have the power to stop this bleeding of our future and our children's future.
GEORGE R. HOLKO SR.
Warren