Equipment is being mobilized for the planned removal of a dam in the North Fork River at Danville’s Ellsworth Park. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources released funding last year for the removal of that dam and another one which was located in the Vermilion River behind the Public Safety Building.
Crews have completed removing the dam behind the PSB, but work remains to be done along the banks of the Vermilion River in that area.
Work on removing the dam at Ellsworth Park will proceed as weather allows.
A debate over whether the dams should be removed has been waged for years. It was in 2013 that the Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced the state would recommend removing them. Some local fishermen objected claiming it would be detrimental to fish habitat in the area.
Some people have lost their lives to drowning at both locations, and signs were posted to warn canoeists about the danger.