Don Valley Brick Works: Reclamation of the Don Valley

Positive and Negative effects of the old brick works:

Positive Negative

The quarry has exposed layers of earth that show the different periods of the ice ages.	There is a big flat surface where hills used to be.
Because the old brick works needed a cooling system for the factory, a nearby creek (Mud Creek) has been diverted onto a flood plane. This prevents too much flow from this creek going into the Don River.	The wildlife in that area had been scared off.
The diverted creek made little ponds. When the water went through these ponds, they were filtered by minerals from the mining activity before entering the Don River.	It was very ugly to look at.

Now that the Don Valley Brickworks factory is no longer in service since 1984, it is now being used as a reclamation site for wildlife, a park and natural area.

There is now a lot of plant life present. When the mining started, a whole hillside had to be dug out, and the plant life was destroyed. only recently has the plant life started making a slow comeback. The trees planted in the old open pit mining area, are similar to the deciduous forest. A lot of present trees are Cottonwood and Chokecherry as pioneers and Red Oak, Sugar Maple, White Ash and Black Cherry. Although these trees are young, they are inhabiting this land very well.

There is also some animal life coming back. Because of the activity of the factory, animal life was scared away. like the plants, animals, such as this raccoon, are slowly coming back to this area of the don valley.

A major reclamation project is the regeneration projects in the Don Watershed. There are many ponds created by the diversion Mud creek, onto the flood plane. The ponds are home to many forms of aquatic life. not only are thy home to life, they have a other function. The first pond is intended to capture sediment. The others are expected to filter the water biologically.

The old buildings of the factory have been preserved to illustrate the former industry in the heart of Toronto. As this area is no longer a site for mining, people visit frequently and walk arount the old brick works.

An area where there was no wildlife and only machinery and hard labour, is now slowly being reclaimed by nature. But nature isn't the only force to bring back wildlife, Evergreen Brick Works is helping as well. They have raised over 48 000 000$ to ensure that the Don Valley Brick Works quarry into a natural site.