For several centuries, the swift current of the Lamus River supported the economic development of Lodz, powering the city's mills and machinery owned by industrialists. At the end of the 19th century the Lamus stream was diverted underground, flowing through much of the city in a tunnel artificially created for the purpose. This is set to change, however, as the Lodz City Hall has announced a partial restoration of the Lamus River to be carried out as part of the revitalization of Colonel Jan Kilinski Park. What does the project for a new green space in the heart of Lodz look like, and what does the concept of river renaturalization mean anyway?
The Lamus, which is a tributary of the Jasień River, is one of about twenty rivers crossing Lodz. It once supplied the vicinity of its bed with significant amounts of water, as evidenced by the names of places located along its course - such as the Water Market and Park Źródliska. The stream, which has its beginning in the vicinity of Park Staszica, has the greatest gradient of all Lodz watercourses, flowing fast like a mountain stream. For this reason, from the 16th century its swift current was used by the wheels of the mill belonging to the Kęp family, who over the years changed their name to Lamus, giving the river its modern name. In 1842 the mill was taken over by Traugott Grohmann, who decided to set up a mechanical cotton spinning mill there. The Lamus stream was also used by Karol Schreiber's first plant, located at the Water Market. With the development of technology, the energy provided by the rivers began to lose its appeal, so the Lamus, like many other rivers in Lodz, began to serve as an urban sewage. The unpleasant appearance and smell that spread along its banks caused the Lamus to be diverted underground at the end of the 19th century, where it flowed inside a tunnel specially built for the purpose.
The underground tunnel through which the Lamus River flows in Lodz.
Photo: Maciej Jablonski © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
eye to eye with the river
Over the years, the Lamus was forgotten, and some even thought the stream had dried up. In 2016, the Board of Water and Sewerage in Lodz reminded people about the river, reporting on cleanliness tests conducted in its stream - interestingly, it turned out that the water flowing in it was not contaminated. As a result, it was decided to uncover a section of the Lamus flowing through the area of today's Kilińskiego Park. In its area the Lamus flows extremely shallow, so the ZWiK of Lodz arranged a small observation point over the Lamus tunnel in the form of an openwork manhole with a dynamo-driven lamp, which illuminates the exposed piece of the underground structure. The unusual solution did not catch on, and the need to bring Lamus to the surface has been rumored for some time. In March of this year, after several years of floating plans to renaturalize the Lodz river, the City presented visualizations of a project that envisions much more than just making the forgotten stream accessible to those living in Lodz.
Project of revitalization of Col. Jan Kiliński Park in Lodz
© UM Łódź | Park-M
Lamus returns to the surface
Theplans include not only bringing a fragment of the Lamus to the surface, but also a comprehensive revitalization of Colonel Jan Kiliński Park, originally created as a garden surrounding Ludwik Grohmann's residence. The design and execution was commissioned to the Park-M company, which is responsible for projects such as the revaluation of the Upper Garden at the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the revitalization of the Old Town Park in Lodz. Work on the Kilinski Park will be divided into two stages.
Revitalization project of Col. Jan Kiliński Park in Lodz.
© UM Łódź | Park-M
First, Park-M will take care of the green area, where vegetation will be cleaned up, new water-permeable surfaces will be laid, and educational paths will be created, dedicated to the city's river system, and the history of the villa complex, of which Kilinski Park was once a part. The second, and much more spectacular, stage involves taking out the Lamus River along a nearly 200-meter section with a course identical to the line of the historic stream bed. The project, made available by the City Council, involves the implementation of a multi-element filtration system and a current-supporting pump powered by RES , as well as the arrangement of an old river bed - a blind branch of the stream - at the main stream. Convenient drop-offs and recreational infrastructure will be created along the banks. With the unveiling of the Lamus, the City is counting on a number of benefits - the creation of an oasis for relaxing on hot days, the support of biodiversity in the city, and finally the cultivation of awareness among residents about the role played by blue-green infrastructure.
Revitalization project for the Colonel Jan Kiliński Park in Lodz.
© UM Łódź | Park-M
rivers reclaimed
Unlike other large Polish cities, Lodz lacks a large river of any real significance. There is, however, an intricate network of smaller watercourses and canals flowing through the city, which have been degrading over time or, like the Lamus, landing in underground tunnels. In recent years , however, one hears more and more in Lodz about plans for renaturalization - that is, restoring rivers that have undergone anthropogenic regulation to a possibly near-natural state. Magdalena Milert wrote about the benefits of well-organized blue-green infrastructure for us here.
We're looking at other Lodz rivers in the following projects. Jasień, Ner, Łódka, this is the next pool. In the longer term, also Olechówka and Augustówka, also with the intention of uncovering them, renaturalizing them and restoring them for the city. Today, quite symbolically, we wanted to show that it's not just words, not just talks with residents, but also signing agreements and starting work," said Maciej Riemer, director of the Department of Ecology and Climate of the City of Lodz Office, during the conference.
Lodz already has experience in river renaturalization - in the past decade a comprehensive action was carried out to revitalize the Sokolowka River, which included restoring its former function and course, creating a number of retention reservoirs and arranging a park running along its bed. Plans for the Jasień, Ner and Łódka rivers are also ambitious. Future activities are to create areas of varying character and degree of intrusion. For example, the area around the Ner River will remain in its most natural state, while boulevards with stairs, similar to those in Warsaw, are to be created along the Jasień River. The Łódka, on the other hand, will be the second Lodz river, after the Lamus, to be restored to the surface after years of being hidden in an underground canal.
