 The Angelica Creek once meandered through Angelica Park in Reading, flowing into a small lake created by a dam at Route 10. The dam was breached by flood waters resulting from lack of maintenance to the dam and high flows due to Tropical Storm Allison in June 2001, emptying the lake and leaving behind a large quantity of lakebed sediment.
The City has committed to complete several projects designed to protect the creek’s aquatic life and recreational uses, and to reduce discharges of sediment and other water pollutants into the Schuylkill River. These projects include the removal of excess lake bed sediments, restoration of about 2000 feet of Angelica Creek, creation of two acres of wetlands, and the creation of a three-acre flowering meadow flood plain. This will be the City of Reading’s Environmental Education Center.
The city has also agreed to perform a community environmental project to restore the recreational uses and aquatic life of the Angelica Creek from Angelica Park to the Schuylkill River.
With the creation of this park and the neighboring Alvernia College it creates an opportunity to connect the City’s Environmental Education Center through Alvernia College to the Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center in Cumru Township. This entire project area is referred to as the Angelica Greenway.
Utilizing a state grant and William Penn Foundation grant, the Berks County Conservancy is conducting a feasibility study for the Angelica Greenway in 2008-2009. Our partners have been identified and this project is currently a priority project of the Conservancy.
Map
Angelica Greenway Map |