Driving into Campbellton off the Inland Island Highway offers views of concrete, industry, and commercial trucks.
But thanks to a surprise discovery that’s all soon about to change.
Volunteers from the Campbellton Neighbourhood Association and the Adopt-A-Highway program spent all day Sunday clearing out Alders to reveal a spring-fed pond that will greet drivers as they come down the highway.
Morgan Ostler, a volunteer with Adopt-A-Highway, said the pond, which sits in a triangular-shaped piece of green space at 14th Avenue and the Inland Island Highway, is a jewel for Campbellton.
“At one time you couldn’t see it,” Ostler said. “But we realized this is something to enhance the community. We hope to beautify it in the summer.”
Ostler said she would love to see the pond used as a home for small fish or a gathering place for ducks.
The pond, which was covered in a thin layer of ice as volunteers cut and trucked away stacks of branches and long grasses on a chilly Sunday morning, was uncovered in July during the annual Broom Bash.
“Removing truckloads of broom and scrub-alders revealed a tranquil pool,” said Coun. Ron Kerr, an advocate for improving Campbellton. “And our work crew were astonished that such an attractive spot had been concealed for years by rough bush.”
Sunday’s clean-up was approved by the provincial Ministry of Transportation as an Adopt-A-Highway project but the efforts were also a part of the Campbellton Neighbourhood Association’s work to beautify and improve the northern end of the city.
The Association is holding a meeting tonight from 6-8 p.m. at the Eagles Hall. Urban Planning students from Vancouver Island University who are studying Campbellton and Ken Blackburn from the Campbell River Arts Council are expected to make presentations.