Will I ever cease being exasperated over the decision to entomb the south branch of this river? Probably not.
Nor will I pass up the opportunity to try to correct the narrative that is mindlessly shared every time it’s mentioned.
Humans never need to bury a river — fully or partially — because of flooding.
Floods are natural.
Anyone who understands science and respects nature would recognize this; anyone with any sense would not build in a flood zone.
And anyone who can read historical documents, including newspapers and city plans, can tell you that the destruction of the Park River’s south branch was never about the flooding anyway.
What, then? Real estate and highway construction.
Major flooding in the 1930s opened up funds for flood control, enabling a plan that some had been kicking around for decades: cover the Park River with parking and highway.
The photos here show the north branch of the Park River.
While also manipulated, it is in far more of a natural state than its partner to the south. Running through a wealthier neighborhood, residents were privileged to fight a plan to build a highway alongside it.