Project Status

Over the past five years, momentum has been growing for removal of the Fifth Avenue Dam.

In 2004, as part of a consent agreement with the Ohio EPA, the City of Columbus agreed to spend $400,000 toward removal of the dam, an amount equal to fines it owed for sewer overflows into the river.  To fulfill this obligation, the City requested assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2006 to conduct a feasibility study for removing the dam to restore the ecosystem of the river.  Although the study has not yet been finalized, due to federal funding constraints, a draft version recommended full removal of the dam with additional in-stream restoration.  The estimated cost for the project was $1.82 million.

U.S. Representative Deborah Pryce inserted $1.18 million into federal legislation for the project.  However, her earmark was removed in January 2008 before the budget was signed into law.  The loss of funds set the project back, but currently, the City of Columbus is investigating alternative sources of funding.  Depending on the results of those studies, and assuming that funding can be found, it is hoped that the dam could be removed by 2012.