Restoration project to prevent Hogan’s Creek flooding

Hogan's Creek, FL. — A restoration project is underway for Hogan’s Creek, a flood-prone waterway in the Springfield area.

Now, a major grant is boosting the project’s design.

Hogan’s Creek looks calm, but when it floods, Kelly Rich knows it means trouble.

“I’ve seen a lot of flooding, a lot of destruction of our streets because of the water,” she said. She’s lived in Springfield for three years but the flooding stops her from venturing out. “I’d be out here on my bike,” she explained. “I’d probably walk my dog more often.” Market Street, for instance, sees flooding at least once a week.

And several times a month, Rich said the water will even swell up to two feet high there, covering the entire street and spilling over into this local dog park nearby.

A restoration project wants to reduce flooding and improve water quality.

The nonprofit group Groundwork Jacksonville is in charge of the preliminary design, which covers 30% of all the work involved.

That design will take a year and costs $676,000 to put together.

The City of Jacksonville will then expand on that design.

Groundwork has secured $107,000 between funds approved by the Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board and donations.

Now, a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will pay for $294,000. It’s the boost the project needed to move forward until Groundwork can find a way to cover the rest.

Rich and the Springfield Preservation and Revitalization have been chiming in on the design. “Super exciting and we’re just happy to be a small part of it,” she said.

Rich hopes everyone can soon make use of everything this space has to offer. “Just visually, it’s a beautiful space,” she pointed out. “And so [I’d like for people to] just come out and enjoy it, use our public parks more often.”

Cox Media Group