An urban creek returns to nature
A public-private partnership is restoring Little Sugar Creek, which was channelized and capped in the 1960s to make way for development.
A bird's-eye view of the Little Sugar Creek restoration between King's Drive and Kenilworth Avenue in autumn 2009. COURTESY OF MEREDITH MOORE, MECKLENBURG COUNTY WATER QUALITY PROGRAM
Crystal Taylor, project manager with Mecklenburg County Storm Water Services, is overseeing the restoration of the stream bed. While the structures at street level - such as bridges, fountains and sculptures - are impressive for being harmoniously designed and well-executed, the stream bed itself is a reverse civil engineering wonder of the modern age, for it is natural order restored.
For roughly 50 years, Little Sugar Creek shot southward through a conduit beneath an apartment building and a row of shops. Today, handsome bridges span it, connecting King's Drive to Kenilworth Avenue. The creek burbles and riffles over rocks Taylor salvaged from construction sites at no cost other than the gasoline it took to haul them there. The rocky bed helps to oxygenate the water.
