Changes

The area of Broomall’s Lake has resettled and is now a meadow with a free-flowing stream running through it. We have observed deer grazing as well as other wildlife. Due to the lack of rain as well as the change in hydrology, Broomall’s Run, as it passes through Glen Providence Park, appears to have a much lower flow. A great deal of sediment from the lake has also been deposited in the stream and probably in the pond. We are watching closely and consulting with experts to learn about the short and long term impacts on the stream and the pond. 

Construction

To the best of our knowledge, plans for construction of the dam and two way road continue with Media Borough as the project manager and is slated to begin in late 2018. We are not aware of either Delaware County or Broomall’s Lake Country Club (BLCC) agreeing to be owner — a requirement for DEP permit. Friends of Glen Providence Park continues to advocate for full stream restoration and an environmentally sensitive bridge across Broomall’s Run that addresses the community’s transportation needs. 

Zoning & BLCC Development

Media Borough has begun the process of changing the zoning of a few parcels in town to MERC (Municipal, Educational, Recreational, Community) and one under consideration is the BLCC property. This property has been used recreationally for nearly 100 years as a private swim club, and is one of the only remaining large tracts of undeveloped land in Media Borough. Delaware County’s Open Space Plan of 2015 encourages municipalities to “take full advantage of their planning and zoning powers to protect sites and land resources of community importance.” (Open Space and Recreational Plan, Vol. 1, Chapter 3, p. 29; Delaware County Planning Department, 2015.)

BLCC leadership is strongly opposed to this zoning change, expressing their desire to retain the right to develop their land, which they estimate to be worth more than 12 million dollars if developed into 17 townhouses, as stated in their attorney’s letter to Media Borough dated September 29, 2017. Many club members who attended a Borough Workshop meeting expressed surprise at the club’s opposition to preserving this historic tract of land. 

A group has emerged in support of preserving open space in Media called Keep Media Green. Friends of Glen Providence Park supports the preservation of the BLCC property as open space. It will protect the vulnerable Ridley Creek Watershed, of which Broomall’s Run is a part, will help keep storm runoff and flooding more manageable within the park, and will help to mitigate the effects of development all around Glen Providence Park and Media Borough. You can find Keep Media Green on Facebook. 

Footbridge

Friends of Glen Providence Park continues to work with a community coalition that has made proposals to, and met with, Delaware County Council about a way to establish a pedestrian footbridge at the partially removed dam — we expect to have an update soon.

Partial breach of Broomall’s Dam when it was completed in July

In 2013, we kept a photojournal to document the planned construction area in Glen Providence Park for Broomall’s Dam at 3rd Street. According to the project engineers, 1.11 acres will become a construction zone, with approximately .64 acres of the park buried with earthfill for the new, larger dam.

The 1.1 Acre is a serene part of Glen Providence Park, which includes the Third Street entrance and waterfall, wetlands, a stretch of Broomall’s Run, elegant native flowers, the remnant of a historical footbridge, natural springs that were once a source of drinking water, and of course wildlife.

Plant & Wildlife

Through the year, we watched birds bathing and drinking in the springs, White-tailed deer taking refuge, intriguing insects such as the Ebony Jewelwing and an iridescent golden spider, Pickerel frogs, and endearing baby Wood frogs. We followed the progression of flowering native Wild Ginger, False Solomons Seal, white violets, Trout Lily, and Jack-in-the-Pulpit.  Native Spicebush and American Witch Hazel are abundant, along with ever-elegant ferns. Of course the intriguing Skunk Cabbage is prolific in the wetlands! The 1.1 Acre has 76 trees of 18 species including American Sycamore, Sassafras, American Hornbeam (aka Ironwood), and notably the lovely and Pennsylvania-rare Umbrella Magnolia.

Historical features

We located the source of the historical springs that were once a source of drinking water for the park, and that once fed the Eleanor Reed Butler waterfall by the pond. The masonry structures within the 1.1 Acre show the elegance of the park’s original structures built by the Works Progress Administration, and of the now-deteriorating 1883 dam. The remnants of the original footbridge, described in the 1941 Nature Guide as “an arched rustic bridge which commands a beautiful view of the Falls” that led to a fernery and the drinking spring, would be buried under the planned replacement dam.

Delineating the 1.1 Acre

Throughout the year, we regularly took photographs from the same vantage point near the dam overlooking the acre, giving us a series of 1.1 Acre Vista photos through the seasons. In late April, dozens of volunteers helped us create a human chain along the perimeter of the 1.1 Acre, to visualize its boundaries. While it was a week too late for a clear view due to freshly emerged foliage, you can get a sense of the scope of the construction area in some of those photos below.

We still don’t know the timing of the Third Street Project, but it will be incredibly sad to see the destruction of the 1.1 Acre. It’s a serene part of the park – we encourage you to visit it while it is intact!

Photos & more information

• Below is a sampling of photos from the year – click on any photo for a closer look.
• Our Introduction to the 1.1 Acre Project includes an explanation of the boundary, our tree map of the construction area, and historical photographs.
• You can read the installments of our 1.1 Acre Project photojournal, including the one about the historical springs.
• And you can scroll through all of the photos in one place on flickr.

To minimize destruction to the 1.1 Acre, Friends of Glen Providence Park supports dam removal, stream restoration and a local discussion of an environmentally-sensitive bridge between Media Borough and Upper Providence.

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our Year in the 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr. 

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It’s our Fall installment of our photos of Glen Providence Park’s 1.1 Acre construction area for Broomall’s Dam! Wildlife loves the natural wetlands in the 1.1 Acre- including this endearing Wood Frog, which breeds in vernal pools and inhabits moist woods. Birds such as the Tufted Titmouse often bathe and drink in the historical drinking springs, and there are intriguing insects like a caterpillar with markings that look like a face.

Unfortunately there are also plenty of earthworms, most of which are actually invasive in our region! We think of them as beneficial for gardens, but earthworms are very detrimental to woodlands.

There were still flowers to be found with the charmingly late-blooming American Witch Hazel, and fall wildflowers. The foliage of Wild Ginger, Poison Ivy, and ferns started to wither and recede for the winter. You can see the progression as the foliage changes (and falls!) in the 1.1 Acre Vista photos.  Check out the photos of all of this below! 

For an explanation of the 1.1 Acre and its boundary, see our introduction to the 1.1 Acre Project.

You can click on and scroll through our chronological pictures below, and you can also view them on our flickr page! You can see more pictures of Glen Providence Park in our facebook albums and in our photojournal.

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our Fall 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr. 

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We continued to visit Glen Providence Park’s 1.1 Acre construction area for Broomall’s Dam during the hot and unusually(!) wet summer- it broke the 2011 record for Philadelphia’s rainiest summer on record! All that rain made the plants in the park particularly lush, as you can see in the 1.1 Acre Vista photos below.

The native plants transformed, as many started producing berries. And we will have to track down some more experts to help us identify the park’s interesting array of insects and fungi! From fallen Tuliptree flowers and Wild Ginger to golden spiders and iridescent blue damselflies, there was always something to discover in the 1.1 Acre.

We were initially relieved to see the PA Department of Environmental Protection lower the water level at Broomall’s Lake, reducing the risk to the 1.1 Acre if Broomall’s Lake Dam (immediately upstream of the park) were to suddenly fail. However, by mid-July, the lake level had again risen to full capacity.

For an explanation of the 1.1 Acre and its boundary, see our introduction to the 1.1 Acre Project.

You can scroll through our chronological pictures below, and you can also view them on our flickr page! You can see more pictures of Glen Providence Park in our facebook albums and in our photojournal.

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our Summer 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr. 

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Jack in the Pulpit, a.k.a. Devil’s Ear

Also known as Parson-in-the-Pulpit, Lord-and-Lady, Cuckoopint, Lady-in-a-Chaise, Aronskelk, Indian Turnip, Iroquois Breadroot, Memory Root, Bog Onion, American Arum, Pepper Turnip, Dragonroot, Wake Robin, Plant-of-Peace, Cobra Lily and Cooter-Wampee.

Quite a plant of contradictory names, but those names certainly give some clues about it. Some names describe its appearance, where the spadix seems to hover within the shelter of the spathe, like…a parson in an elevated pulpit? A lady in a chaise? Other names, such as Indian and Pepper Turnip, point to its possible edibility. There is contradictory information as to whether Native Americans did cook and eat the corms or roots of the plant. But names like Dragonroot and Devil’s Ear should warn you that it is not a good choice for casual foragers. Supposedly the name Memory Root was earned because if one ate it, one would remember never to do it again! Much of the plant is toxic and has oxalate crystals that burn the skin. And lips. And mouth. And everything. Yikes! Bog onion gives you a hint about where it grows. Now I have no idea why it’s called Cooter-Wampee. Anyone?

In the fall, look for the cluster of red berries on the female plants. Interestingly, the plants can change from male to female. A Lord and Lady both! Arisaema triphyllum is also in the Arum family, like skunk cabbage. Read more about the plant here.

Garlic Mustard

Still flowering! Now here’s a plant that is invasive, sounds uninviting but is a great plant to forage. Read more about how it got here and what to do with it at Eat The Weeds. Our invasive plant removal volunteers also pull it out every Friday, along with other troublesome invasives.

False Solomon’s Seal

In the Lily family. Distinguished from true Solomon’s Seal by the flowers: the true have small whitish-green flowers that dangle below the stem, where false has a raceme of small white flowers on the end of the stem. Hence the name, Maianthemum racemosum. (It’s sometimes called by another scientific name, Smilacina racemosa — so much for the scientific names being definitive!) Anyway, those flowers, after being pollinated by a variety of small bees, flies and beetles, become small berries. They ripen into red fruits that are consumed by many types of birds. The leaves are not particularly tasty, and thus the plant has avoided being overgrazed by deer and other herbivores. Native Americans had medicinal uses for the plant. More information is available at Penn State Extension and The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, both excellent online resources.

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our May 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr.

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As we visited the park’s 1.1 Acre construction area for Broomall’s Dam throughout the month of April, it was exciting to watch how quickly the woods and wetlands transformed! You can see in the first 1.1 Acre vista photo below that the trees were almost bare on April 3, and Skunk Cabbage leaves were just emerging in the wetlands. By the end of the month, the acre was lush and green, and the views across the valley were blocked until Fall.

Before the rapidly emerging foliage and Skunk Cabbage obscured the way, we traced the spring-fed streams to their source by the historical drinking spring. When Media was founded in 1850, and through the 1870’s, the springs feeding Broomall’s Run provided the drinking water for the Borough!

1945 Plan of Glen Providence Park

At least one of those springs continued to be a drinking source into the 1960’s- in Glen Providence Park along the border of the 1.1 Acre! This was an official supply of drinking water for the park, as described in Chester Times articles and marked on this 1945 map. The 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park also describes the drinking spring and its  surrounding wildflowers and fernery. While the area around the spring has largely overgrown, wildflowers and ferns remain!

Our photos below show the remnants of a masonry wall by the spring, and what appear to be two spring sources that merge into one stream. One of those sources is within the 1.1 Acre, and the other is just outside of the 1.1 Acre. It is sad that these historical springs will be destroyed or impacted by the Broomall’s Dam construction area.

Throughout the 1.1 Acre, there was plenty to appreciate- the morning sunlight often gives the wetlands a magical air. There are robust colonies of native May-apple and Trout Lily, with patches of False Solomon’s Seal, Wild Ginger, and the dreaded Poison Ivy– which is actually native and beneficial to birds! There are two Umbrella Magnolias, which we did not catch in full bloom. Wildlife visitors that we managed to photograph were a White-tailed Deer and Carolina Wren. 

For an explanation of the 1.1 Acre and its boundary, see our introduction to the 1.1 Acre Project.

You can scroll through our chronological pictures below, and you can also view them with descriptions on our flickr page! You can see more pictures in our facebook albums and in our photojournal.

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our April 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr.

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Many problem invasive species such as Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora), Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) and Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) are spiny brambles and are thus nearly impossible to be eaten by hungry deer. On the other hand, invasives such as Lesser Celandine and Garlic Mustard are edible by humans! But they flower and seed so readily that even a Borough-wide feast might not even knock out these plants.

March began the display of how different trees bud out. You’ll see a sampling of some of our native trees in bud as they reach for the skies. Also, I had never noticed American Hornbeam in the 1.1 Acre before. I’ve seen it in other areas of the park, but had no idea it was right there!

You can also visit the entire Friends of Glen Providence Park’s Flickr Gallery, where you can read informative descriptions with the photographs, and even view them as a full screen slide show!

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our March 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr.

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The goal is to record this area of the park throughout the year so it may be remembered once it is gone, and also to document areas of valuable native plants that might be transferred to other areas of the park. There are also possibilities to recover historic stone for use in park structures elsewhere.

The 1.1 acre area holds the historic Iron Spring (once a public drinking area), patches of native plants, valuable wetlands, some very old trees (which were tree mapped previously), as well as the remains of one of the historic foot bridges. Obviously it is home to numerous animals which we hope to document as well.

So, take a look at the photos below, shot by Stephanie Gaboriault, Amy Johnson, Marcia Tate and myself, Shannon Davidson. You’ll see from week to week we notice different things and we each have a different ‘eye.’ You can also visit Friends of Glen Providence Park’s Flickr Gallery with lots of other great shots. If you enjoy taking photos, we welcome your shots on the Flickr page as well!

February was a good month for noticing overwintered berries, the diversity of tree barks and fungi, structural elements and the little bits of green that were the Christmas ferns. Skunk cabbage buds were the earliest sign of spring. As spring emerges this month and in April, we hope to spot native ephemerals, bird and animal activity, and trees leafing out.

December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our February 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr.

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It’s our 2013 project to document the plants and wildlife in Glen Providence Park!  We’ll continue our photojournal of the whole park, but this year we’ll focus our efforts on one acre of the park- the construction area for the 3rd Street Dam. 

We don’t know when construction will start to replace the dam, but it may be as early as 2014.  Whenever it starts, according to the project engineers, 1.11 acres will become a construction area, with approximately .64 acres buried with earthfill.  So, in order to appreciate the 1.1 acre while it lasts, we will document it over the next year!

The trees marked on Philly Tree Map are within the 1.1 acre construction area

The perimeter:

Last year, we used the dam construction diagrams from the project engineers at Larson Design Group and Schnabel Engineering to identify the perimeter of the construction area.  We then registered 76 trees within that area on Philly Tree Map– some of our favorite of the 18 tree species we found there were Umbrella Magnolia, American Sycamore, American Witch Hazel, Sassafras, American Hornbeam and Black Tupelo.  The resulting tree map shows the perimeter of the 1.1 acre construction area.
 

History:

1930’s or 40’s photo of footbridge near waterfall. Posted with permission of Media Historic Archives.

The acre has changed through the years, as you can see from early photographs.  There was once a rustic footbridge across Broomall’s Run, where the path led through a fernery at the base of Broomall’s Dam to a drinking spring on the Upper Providence side.  That spring is still there, but difficult to access- and it is right on the border of the construction area, at the base of an enormous Tuliptree.  We cleared part of the then-disused path leading to the spring at our second volunteer day in October 2011.  A footer from the footbridge is still there- but according to the engineers’ diagrams, the new dam will cover it.
 
 

Our project:

American Witch-hazel in the 1.1 acre- where it is abundant!

We’ve been documenting the plants and wildlife in the park through our photojournal, Birding Big Year and Tree Mapping.  Now we’d like to learn more about the 1.1 acre- four of us will visit the park through the year, and post our photographs and observations.  We hope to document what species are within that acre, and identify those valuable plant species that could be transplanted and saved prior to construction.

We’ll be focusing on the 1.1 acre, but it’s a great way to closely observe nature and follow the seasons in the park.  On our visit on a bitterly cold February morning, we observed the Skunk Cabbage already emerging.  And the frozen waterfall and Broomall’s Run have been lovely in the snow!

It’s a serene part of the park- we welcome you to visit it!  It’s an introduction to the 1.1 acre, and a long farewell.

– Amy, Marcia, Shannon & Stephanie
 
 
Here are a few photos so far showing the 1.1 acre- you can click on any one for a closer look.