We missed a full year of Botany Pond last year, and that meant a dearth of ducks, although we managed to bring up a brood of ten trapped on the roof of a dormitory two blocks north. That was a considerable accomplishment given the difficulty of the task, which involved schlepping water and food over to the dorm three times a week for eight weeks. We also had a somewhat depressing experience with Amy the Library Duck, who couldn’t find her way to the lake several blocks west, and so we had to purloin her offspring and put them into rehab. That was also the case for another lost brood a few weeks earlier.
We had hoped that Botany Pond would be filled with water by June of this year, but even that doesn’t seem to be in the offing, and we may not even get to see the migrating ducks stop by here on their way south. Below is the announcement from the Chicago Maroon about various delays in reopening the Pond, which is now surrounded by an ugly metal and nylon-mesh fence.
Although the article below starts this way:
According to a University spokesperson, the refilling of Botany Pond along with its bridge repairs are set to be completed this spring, with planting and landscaping occurring over the summer. The re-introduction of the pond’s wildlife will be a gradual process that will begin upon the pond’s refilling, with a focus on re-building the pond’s ecosystem from the ground up in order to ensure its self-sufficiency. According to a University spokesperson, the refilling of Botany Pond along with its bridge repairs are set to be completed this spring, with planting and landscaping occurring over the summer. The re-introduction of the pond’s wildlife will be a gradual process that will begin upon the pond’s refilling, with a focus on re-building the pond’s ecosystem from the ground up in order to ensure its self-sufficiency. It is unclear when Botany Pond will be open to the public again.
Well, they are not going to complete the bridge repairs this spring, nor will the pond be refilled, nor will the bridge be completed. Forget about the planting and landscaping. Everything is on hold because the University is hurting for money.
Pessimist that I am, I don’t think the pond will be refilled any earlier than the Spring of 2025, which means that we’ll have lost two full wildlife seasons. This is sad not only because the turtles, fish, and ducks won’t be here to enjoy, but the entire pond, a jewel of the University, will be fenced off and unavailable to the community. People from all around, whether or not they had anything to do with the U of C, would stop by and get respite from their quotidian woes by communing with the pond, its plants and trees and of course its avian wildlife. You can read about the delays below, but I won’t reproduce them as it just makes me sad. Click to read the rest:
Instead of bemoaning the problem, I’ll put up a few photos to bring back memories of brighter days.
Feeding the ducks with the Lab School students, 2017:
Honey and her brood of 17 from 2020. Half of the brood was kidnapped form Dorothy, but Dorothy went on to re-nest and produced her own brood of seven:
Honey as a soccer ball:
Me feeding Honey, 2021:
Honey’s very young babies:
. . . and her teenage brood. Ever watchful, she was the Queen of Duck Mothers:
Roof ducks, last year, with mother Maria. We brought every one up to fledging!
The pond in November, 2022. Work has been very slow, and back then it apparently wasn’t due to lack of money:
Turtles in 2018 (red-eared sliders). They are off somewhere being taken care of, but I wonder if we’ll ever see them again:
The pond in 2018:
Unknown drake and his mate:
Frisky the wood duck sitting on his cypress knob (sadly, they cut down the trees):
Frisky nuzzling his girlfriend Ruth, who flew off on her own:
Is it any wonder I’m depressed?
h/t Charles
That’s a shame. Maybe you should start a Go-Fund-Me on behalf of the Biology Pond?
Bet it ain’t that simple. Probably need an official contracted structure in which university takes significant overhead off the top.
That was my initial reaction. Crowdfunding does sometimes work in the UK, even in regard to publicly or institutionally owned assets. Is it really so difficult in the US?
Alivisatos (I have ceased to be polite, now dropping his title) continues to be a disaster. My bet is that this would not have happened under the late President Zimmer, a kind, compassionate, and competent leader. It ain’t the money….the university has plenty of dosh…it is the priorities of the university for those dollars and those priorities are recommended to the board by the president.
Oh, and has Alivisatos enforced university policies against groups that break the rules on demonstrations finally? Just curious.
I may have some news on that front soon. I miss Bob and yes, I think he could have speeded things up.
Meanwhile, the university has probably expanded the office of DEI (or whatever it’s called) by 40%. Priorities…
Commiserations. But I am sure that like many hundreds, whenever I see mallards I also think of Botany Pond.
Should be proud of this work – it is a great service.
Hopefully the ‘works get sorted.
Cheers
Thanks for the pictures. I very much missed the Botany pond adventures last spring/summer and am disappointed to learn we will likely have to wait another year.
It’s too bad that the U of C couldn’t get it together enough to get this job done. Back at Harvard when I was there around 1980, I was astonished to see how much the university whipped itself into shape in the weeks before commencement. Every spring, legions of workers in drab green overalls swarmed across campus getting everything ready. One would think that the U if C would want to complete the project to show it off to alumni, parents, and donors at commencement time. But, alas apparently it is not to be.
My wife is a U of C alumna, AB ‘77. She tells me that she remembers Botany Pond.
Yes. Institutions with a large workforce CAN bring focus and an all-hands effort under strong and respected leadership if they want to. When Queen Elizabeth visited Virginia in Spring of 2007, one of her first stops was to Richmond, the state’s capital. She was to walk and be greeted on the Capitol grounds which unfortunately were just a huge mud hole as the ancient building and grounds were undergoing a major renovation. But a week before her arrival, the Governor’s chief of staff (known affectionately to all staff simply as the “Chief”) put out a call for all hands to support a temporary rebuild of the grounds. Everyone from the lowest level temp intern to permanent staff all the way through Cabinet secretaries answered the call and turf was rolled out, shrubs and flowers planted, mulch laid, and dirt and debris swept, all in time for a beautiful welcome ceremony on the grounds by hundreds of politicians, staff and citizens. An amazing surge of clear purpose and teamwork.
Sad news – commiserations.
Sad news. Lovely photos. Hoping for a positive resolution.
Sorry the pond won’t be opened this year and that they’re being so pokey about it. I feel disappointed for you. It’s nice to see the pictures from the ordeal last season. Fond memories for us. Hard work for you! Those were some lucky ducks!
FWIW my university like Chicago and most others is suffering a huge budget crisis. We hired hundreds & hundreds of new managers and directors and other mid-level bureaucrats over the last 10 years 🙁 But what put us over the top was the hangover from 2 years of high inflation caused by covid lockdown spending by governments, plus a steep drop in international students (and their premium fees) since 2022.
An article in the Chicago Tribune may do the trick; specifically mentioning the impact on education (school children), and wildlife.
A donor may step up.
Of course. It was mary schmich who wrote an article with photo in the trib on march 31, 2020, four years ago. Maybe they would like to do a follow-up on how things have been left today. They could actually dig (no pun intended) into the affair as to who in the administration really dropped the ball on this…facilities engineering? Design? Budgeting? Execution?…. Besides the loss of tranquility to the college and community, it cannot help recruiting for prospective students and parents see this ongoing destruction zone.
Excellent points.
Thanks Jim.
Do you know how to get in touch with Mary Schmich?
Looks like she retired from the trib in 2021 but is on linkedIn. I am no longer active on linked in so cannot make contact but you might try that. Sorry but as i have aged, i have eschewed social media.
No worries, thank you.
I was just reading Catcher in the Rye – Holden wonders where the ducks in Central Park, New York City go in the winter. I think in chapter 11 there’s a conversation which is amusing – the taxi driver says (paraphrasing) the fish stay frozen solid in the ice and absorb nutrients in situ.
I am not sure if that’s one of those things where writers try to say some profound thing or what.
Instead of an appeal to the higher-ups, University President, etc, perhaps a more modest approach to the “lower-downs” might change public perception— whoever cares more about the University’s brick and mortar image. The University’s photographer, Public Relations, Graphic staff, Website Czar, anyone who’s job is to make UC look good, those behind the scenes.
Might I suggest anyone visiting should make a pilgrimage to the Botany Pond site and find someone in some official capacity to remark (respectfully) how sad it is that work isn’t further along, and how this was going to be a high point on your trip to the University.
Mention Botany Pond, and that you, kids, grandkids, followed the Adventures of The Ducks on the University’s web cam site, and that you were thrilled the University encouraged such a wonderful learning environment. Etc. And/or even ask, “Is there someone I could contact to let know how much Botany Pond means to me?”
Based on my experience (as a very lower-downs) with Chicago States U Presidents, and a their politics, I would leave out/gloss over Prof Ceiling Cat entirely, unless he is completely beyond reach from those may have a grudge against him for his other advocacies, such as free speech.