Amherstburg – Thanks to the hard work of ERCA’s staff and contractors hired to aid in the cleanup, Holiday Beach will be reopened on Saturday, September 21 & Sunday, September 22 for Festival of Hawks.
“The damage sustained at the park was truly devastating,” said Kevin Money, ERCA’s Director of Conservation Services. “All of our qualified staff were deployed to Holiday Beach to eliminate overhead risks, which were the most concerning.” In total, ERCA’s staff complement to maintain all 4,000 acres of conservation lands and 80 kilometres of trail is a team of just five individuals, so several tree companies were hired to assist in the effort. In addition to the many downed trees that needed to be removed, there were many compromised large branches that had to be dealt with in order to ensure public safety. At the same time, there were several large trees down along the Greenway Trail System that required removal.
In total, the cleanup effort is costing the Conservation Authority in the order of $25,000. “This has been a very difficult year for Holiday Beach,” Money reports. “The high lake levels and resulting beach erosion reduced our day use visitation by over 30% over the summer months. But, as difficult as this situation is, we are very grateful there were no injuries or major infrastructure damages incurred as a result of the storm.”
Since 1973, Essex Region Conservation has been sustaining and enriching the environment of the Windsor-Essex-Pelee Island region to ensure it is the Place for Life.
Media Contacts:
Danielle Breault Stuebing
Director, Communications & Outreach Services
519-776-5209 ext.352
dstuebing@erca.org
