(Photo by Evan Bevins) Ty Welliver, who recently moved to Parkersburg, walks with his dog Anya by the drained pond in City Park on Tuesday. Welliver said he hasn’t seen the pond full. It was drained for dredging and to accommodate a new seawall, among other improvements, expected to be finished by early May.

PARKERSBURG — Work is underway on a pair of projects impacting the pond in City Park.

The pond was drained in January, and contractor RDR Utility Services Group is at work this week dredging the muck from the bottom.

“Approximately 18 inches of material will come out in most areas, maybe more,” city Engineer Adam Stout said. “Then we will construct a new seawall out of concrete block and then a new sidewalk on that.”

The new sidewalk on the seawall will be connected to the existing walkway around the pond. The three fountains that were removed will be put back, along with a large floating fountain in the center, Stout said.

RDR is handling that and the installation of a new stormwater retention system next to the pond on a single $681,200 contract.

(Photo by Evan Bevins) A crew from RDR Utility Services Group digs space for an underground stormwater retention system to be installed at the corner of 23rd Street and Park Avenue in Parkersburg City Park Tuesday.

“We’ve had trouble at Park (Avenue) and 23rd (Street) with flooding, so we’re going to try to capture some of the water with that,” Stout said.

It’s the fourth such underground retention system the city will have installed since 2019. It will store up to 40,000 gallons of water that will move through aggregate material to filter out materials like hydrocarbons and oil, Stout said. Then, it will be pumped back into the pond to make up for water lost to evaporation.

The other systems are beneath a lot on 20th Street, inside another portion of City Park and in the Beechwood area.

That part of the project is expected to be completed by the end of May.

A pergola was removed from that area of the park, known as Pappas Corner, to make way for the retention system. Mayor Tom Joyce did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the removal and what may be done in that area once the installation is complete.

(Photo by Evan Bevins) Basket components of an underground stormwater retention system to be placed at the corner of 23rd Street and Park Avenue in Parkersburg City Park sit in front of an excavator digging a hole into which the system will be installed Tuesday.

Workers were scheduled to add lime to the muck in the pond to help solidify it for transport Wednesday, Stout said. Around the start of April, the blocks for the seawall will begin to be placed and the sidewalk poured, he said.

“Hopefully, by the first or second week of May, we’ll be done,” he said.

(Photo by Evan Bevins) Construction equipment is used to dig muck at the bottom of the drained pond in Parkersburg City Park Tuesday.