Lagoon Park Restoration Tour

Jim Engel and Laurie Pontin Raeman will be our guides...

There are 17 links to our past Lagoon Park visits.  You can find them by scrolling down to the INDEX TO PAST POSTINGS section in the left column.  A simple click should open them up.

It was a beautiful breezy day of mixed clouds and sun when eight members of the Canandaigua Botanical Society met to tour Lagoon Park on Saturday, June 11. 2022.  Here are some of the images:

Evening nightshade

"somebunny" enjoying the clover

glossy buckthorn is as prolific as European buckthorn

buckthorns have an orange or yellow pith to them

staghorn sumac

poison ivy

bedstraw and daisy fleabane

newly planted spice bush

poison ivy vine growing up tree trunk

bird's foot trefoil

back side of poison ivy covered map post

Very happy growth of poison ivy on Lagoon map post

cinquefoil

crown vetch

Laurie finds injured robin

mulberry

THANKS to Jim and Laurie for all their work to help restore Lagoon Park, and a great tour!

 

   

                                                                  

Here's the history shared when we met:

Lagoon Park, Lakeshore Drive, Canandaigua, NY 14424                                                  June 11, 2022

 This property was the site of Roseland Park from 1925- 1985.  They had a miniature Pacemaker train that traveled this area. In the 1930s the outlet was a stream with a forest on either side.  The stream split with a channel to the north and east. 

In the 1950-60s Route 5/20 was moved north to its current location.  Fill was taken from the area creating the lagoon and Muer Lake near the current Roseland Water Park.  After Roseland Park closed, topsoil was removed from the Lagoon Park property to develop the current lakefront.  The lagoon is about 6-8 feet deep and has a gravel bottom.

From 1985-1989 the area was unmaintained. Invasive species (common European buckthorn, Asian honeysuckle, Glossy buckthorn) took over, creating dense shade crowding out the native species.  The property was owned by Booth and Muer and was meant to be a private park for Rose Cottages with trails designed by Flint Allen.  The city of Canandaigua acquired this old drainage way of Canandaigua Lake in 1989 and the Lagoon Park property as a whole in 1997.  The vegetation was left in a natural state which has many benefits but also becomes very vulnerable to plants not native to this area.  Over time native species have been choked out by invasive or exotic species of plants.  As the native plant species decrease, the insects, birds, and animals that rely on those native plants also decline. 

In 2002 the city received substantial grant moneys to upgrade the trails system with the current wooden bridges, fishing stations, gazebo and other wooden structures.  The grants spoke to the importance of restoring/maintaining the natural species that would have been found at site in the late 1800s.  Lagoon Park was dedicated in 2007.

2010 the Canandaigua Botanical Society toured Lagoon Park with Dave DeMallie.  Jim Engel expressed interest in helping to restore Lagoon Park to remove as many invasive species as possible and replant with several native species.  Although the Lagoon Park is an outlet and not part of the Canandaigua Lake watershed, the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association partnered with the Canandaigua Botanical Society to help Jim Engel restore the Lagoon Park vegetation to what it may have been 150 years ago when the Canandaigua Botanical Society was formed.   There have been numerous meetings with Canandaigua City to acquire permits and permission, especially to work in a park designated a “wildlife preserve” in a city where pesticides are banned.

2012 was the commencement of restoration efforts.  Jim Engel managed much of the buckthorn removal while CLWA and Canandaigua Botanical Society did fund raising.  ($7665/$11415 - CBS/total)

2013 Native species were planted with help from CBS, CLWA, FLCC, Scouts, CNB, and Canandaigua City officials.  Tour of Lagoon Park with Jim Engel and Steve Lewandowski (pruners in hand to continue work as we toured).

2014 we toured again to see that more work was to be done to continue managing buckthorn removal. Plans for a kiosk were submitted by Eagle Scout, Patrick McFadden.

2015 Patrick McFadden installs the Kiosk as his Eagle Scout project.

2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Canandaigua Botanical Society continued annual Lagoon Park tours.  Bald Eagle was photographed atop a Lagoon Park tree.

2020-2021 – continued restoration efforts with financial support of $1600 from CBS/Master Gardeners

Future: ash tree felling by Canandaigua City – issues of safety, leave or remove dead ash trees, navigating native plantings, etc…  Interpretive Nature Trail to be established by local scout.