Volunteers making progress on Pumping Station revitalization
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Rick Grabosky works on clearing overgrowth on the breast of the Pumping Station Dam on April 4, 2023.
BRANDONVILLE – Aboard a Kubota tractor, Rick Grabosky spent several hours Tuesday at the Pumping Station Dam, pitching in towards the efforts to revive the once-legendary fishing spot in the valley.
For every hour he spent working, he told the Sentinel he spent a half hour talking to curious passersby on Pole Road who observed the progress at the facility, affectionately known locally as the Pumpy.
The dam, owned by Shenandoah borough and located between Brandonville and Girard Manor in East Union Township, was a popular fishing and recreation area until around 2010.
Grabosky and a group of valley residents formed The Pumpy Association earlier this year as part of a renewed grassroots effort to revive the facility.
As he worked on clearing overgrowth on the dam, Grabosky told the Sentinel he was confident the new effort would find success.
Other volunteers, such as Dave Sarno, have been working to muster political support, speaking at a town hall hosted by State Senator David G. Argall as well as at the Northern Schuylkill Council of Governments.
Along with the return of stocked trout waters and the trout hatchery, the group wants to see nature trails and camping at the dam.
A Facebook group created for the effort had over 800 members as of Tuesday night, many of whom shared memories of yesteryear at the dam.
Shenandoah Borough Manager Tony Sajone told the Sentinel on March 16 that the group has been in touch as it organizes its efforts, though the borough is not directly involved at this point.
Shenandoah Borough has owned the facility since the early 20th century when it was a primary source of drinking water for the borough-owned Shenandoah Public Water Works, a predecessor to the current Municipal Authority.
When MABS was formed in the 1940s, merging the three companies, the Pumping Station Dam became a recreational area under the purview of the the Shenandoah Pumping Station Project Booster Club, the Pumping Station Recreation Committee, and most recently, the Shenandoah Pumping Station Preservation Association.
A 1961 article in the Shenandoah Evening Herald described the facility as “among the finest trout waters in the state.”
Following a brush fire which burned much of the grove at the dam, East Union Township Supervisor Kyle Mummey approached the borough about a potential revitalization. An agreement was drafted but not executed, and East Union briefly considered taking the dam by eminent domain.
Members of the Pumpy Association said they plan to approach East Union supervisors later this week.
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