A community meeting is planned for Oct. 31 to discuss the progress on the project to remove the Gorge Dam from the Cuyahoga River.
The meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31, at the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium, 2345 Fourth St., Cuyahoga Falls. The doors open at 5:30 p.m.
During the meeting, Summit Metro Parks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other involved agencies will present a project status update.
Located in Gorge Metro Park, the 420-foot-wide, 60-foot-tall dam was built in 1911 for hydroelectric power and later provided cooling water for a coal-fired power plant. It is no longer functional.
The project, which is expected to reveal the buried waterfall for which Cuyahoga Falls is named, will include removing 832,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment — including heavy metals, oil and grease — from the 1.4-mile-long dam pool that's currently used by fishers.
"The dam is one of the largest unresolved impediments to restoring the water quality of the Cuyahoga River and its removal will improve river ecology, create recreational opportunities and drive economic benefits within the local community," Summit Metro Parks said in a statement.
Currently, the U.S. EPA is designing the sediment management portion of the project, and the city of Akron is engineering the dam removal. Both design projects are funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, with matching funds through the state, Summit Metro Parks said.
The dam removal project is in its sixth year and is managed by a group of partners, including the cities of Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, FirstEnergy, Summit County and Summit County Council, Summit Metro Parks, the University of Akron, the Ohio Lake Erie Commission and the U.S. and Ohio EPAs.
The Brecksville Dam was the last dam to be removed in an effort to improve water quality by letting the Cuyahoga River flow naturally. Dams in Kent, Munroe Falls and two in Cuyahoga Falls have already come down in recent years.
With the Brecksville Dam gone, the Gorge Dam is the last one scheduled to be removed on the Cuyahoga. The dam at Lake Rockwell, which provides drinking water for Akron, will remain.