Crooks’ dam demolition clears final hurdle

Time has run out on 11th-hour efforts to save the Crooks’ Hollow dam and reservoir.

Hamilton Conservation Authority directors pulled the plug on a four-month reprieve last week, voting 5-2 to reconfirm their earlier decision to remove the crumbling structure and return the Greensville stretch of Spencer Creek to its pre-dam state.

Only Flamborough councillor Robert Pasuta, who represents the area, and Stoney Creek councillor Brad Clark opposed proceeding with the $945,000 project, whose bill is being split by the province and city.

Authority chair Chris Firth-Eagland called the decision one of the most difficult tasks directors have faced this term, noting the picturesque hollow played a starring role in promotions for last year’s 50th anniversary celebrations for the HCA.

He said directors had shown a willingness to listen to dam supporters, giving them four months to muster up “a big cash drive” to help cover the estimated $400,000 extra cost for rebuilding – a drive that never materialized.

Opened in 1916, the dam no longer serves its original purpose of flood control and providing drinking water to Dundas.

“When we say, ‘Save the dam,’ it’s semantics. We should be saying, save the puddle, save the reservoir, save that aspect, because that piece of concrete is beyond saving,” Firth-Eagland said.