Environmental Footprint Increased with Removal of Maplewood from Dundas Valley

Sarah hiked to Maplewood in Dundas Valley along the Monarch Trail to view
the rehabilitated site now that the buildings are removed

Resource Management Centre (bell, above) and inscription (below), only
artifacts that remain at site in Dundas Valley

Maplewood is gone, and nature is returning.

Restore Cootes is pleased with the outcome, but we wanted to see for ourselves. A visit to the site now that the demolition is complete was in order. We took a hike from Dundas University Plaza along the lovely Monarch Trail to the former site of Maplewood, deep in the heart of Dundas Valley.

The photos above are worth 1000 words, clearly the structures are removed, and a small open meadow is currently evident. Not sure if there is a native planting going on, or planned. I will look into the details for a future post.

The Hamilton Spectator reported that "The driveway leading to the hall from Artaban Road will be converted into a pathway the width of a trail." This has not happened yet from what we saw, and there was clearly an erosion issue of driveway gravel and sand being washed into the creek and culverts, an environmental problem with the current driveway identified during the discussion on Maplewood. This is another item I will look into: when will the changes to the driveway be made?

It's great to see another project that erases the human footprint in favour of ecological rehabilitation. It's what we love at Restore Cootes. We hope you do too!

LINKS:

An article in the Spectator gives some of the background on the issue: http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4407485-maplewood-hall-will-be-rubble-by-september/
Our feelings on the matter are found in an earlier post: http://restorecootes.blogspot.ca/2014/01/conservation-coin.html
Or all our posts on the topic: http://restorecootes.blogspot.ca/search/label/maplewood

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