Repairs made to Lake Lisgar’s 30-year-old Kinsmen Bridge

Early in 1993, Mrs. Yallop, a concerned citizen, approached Tillsonburg Kinsmen past-president Tom Logan asking if there was a way to restore the traverse across Lake Lisgar to Memorial Park that had been missing for some eight years after the Town removed the bridge the Kinsmen had installed in 1970 .

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From that request, the Lake Lisgar Renaissance project was born and the Kinsmen Club was able to form a coalition with most of the town’s service clubs and special interest groups rallying for the cause. That group stayed together for five years and completed a number of projects on and in the lake.

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The first significant addition, the Kinsmen Bridge, was made possible by a generous $100,000 donation by former mayor Roger Hawkins. The structure was dedicated on Oct. 15, 1993.

The coalition sold $100 cash calendars to help fund the remaining monies and went on to raise $750,000 through donations and government grants. They hired an environmental consultant and there was a seasonal coordinator that oversaw all aspects of the project.

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The following season, Year 2 (1994), aerators were installed. In early November the current fountain was launched – initially for just one month of operation – to help sell calendars in the third year of the project.

The Kinsmen Club has continued to launch, remove, maintain, and store the fountain for the past 30 years.

Aquatic gardens were set up and fish structures were placed in the lake. Awareness of effluent entering the lake from Park Ave. was brought forth, which led to its reconstruction and the removal of a hydro substation and oil filled equipment adjacent to the lake at Concession Street.

The gazebo was added in 1996, and at the completion of the project in 1998, the coalition set up a maintenance account for the Lake when the group disbanded, possibly the first time an asset has been turned over to the Town with that feature.

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The majestic fountain is currently on its third pump as it runs continuously from 7 am to 11 pm daily, logging almost 3,000 hours every season.

Replacement of the pump and other capital expenditures at the lake has been made possible by a generous donation of $50,000 by Glenn and Ellen Springer back in 2011.

The Kinsmen Club painted both the bridge and the gazebo for the Town for $24,000 that same year and by doing so, paid off their final commitment of $250,000 to the It’s For Everyone arena campaign of 2005.

The Kinsmen Club will be proposing another painting contract to the Town to paint the structures again in 2024.

On Sept. 25, 2023, Kinsmen Life Member and Past President, Pat Carroll, who has been the perennial chairman of the Kinsmen Fountaineers for the past 30 years, presented to Council some much needed immediate repairs to the bridge itself and Council approved $30,000 for the work.

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One of the original designers of the bridge, Andy Spriet of Spriet Asssociates, answered the Kinsmen call and after a site visit, proposed some remedial welding repairs and suggested removing some unnecessary support components that had been severely deteriorated from salt applied to the adjacent pathways over the years. Salt shields are being installed as part of this work.

Welding was completed by the Yarmouth Group and painted over by the Kinsmen. Scrub trees around the ends of the bridge have been removed to make way for armor stone and rip rap to be installed by general contractor Greenline Earthworks for erosion control.

Security lighting has been installed under the bridge that will also accentuate the bridge ends.

Some overhanging trees that were a potential liability to the Town were cut down and either removed or were left for fish habitat near the bridge.

The Kinsmen are preparing once again to remove the Lake Lisgar fountain on Saturday, Nov. 4. This year the club plans to enter the Town’s Kinship 1 service barge and the fountain itself into the Christmas parade on Nov. 18, so the residents will be able to view the fountain in its passive (and upside down) state.

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