After more than two months on the job, crews have completed much of the renovations taking place at the Calvada Eye.
The site, according to Nye County Commissioner Butch Borasky, was in disrepair for several years before officials decided to make several upgrades, including the duck ponds at the site.
“We really haven’t done much of a tuneup on the landscaping for a long time and it got to the point where some of the trees became dangerous so we decided we would clean the pond out as well,” he said. “We were able to do that with volunteers from the jail along with a couple of staff members to supervise.”
Borasky said due to the condition of several trees at the site, the county needed to act on a potential liability to those who visit the park-like setting.
While many of the trees at the Calvada Eye required basic trimming and pruning, others had to be felled altogether.
“There’s still some trees that need to come down and I’ve been quite worried about some of the trees in the center median,” he said. “I’ve let the county manager know repeatedly that if we don’t watch it, a windstorm could knock it over and hopefully there’s nobody out there with a car, anything that could possibly get hit.”
While some crew members were working on the trees, others were tasked with upgrading the duck ponds, which Borasky said ‘had seen better days.’
First, the project required the removal of several creatures that call the pond home.
“They were able to get all of the wildlife out of the pond like the turtles,” he said. “They were taken to a secure location so they could be introduced to another location in town. If you look at the area, especially the ponds, the water is nice and clean, plus we installed three filters so it should stay clean where visitors can have a good view of the fish and what other wildlife may be wind up in there.”
On the topic of the wildlife, the commissioner said most of the creatures at the site certainly did not arrive there without some help.
Oftentimes, area residents will introduce creatures to the pond.
Borasky also said he fields questions from people asking about the dozens of ducks that were a fixture.
“I told them we didn’t do anything to the ducks because they can fly anywhere they want whenever they want,” he said. “They’re not going to stay here unless they have water to swim in. They like the shade and they like to lay their eggs here.”
The project also encompasses creating and repairing sidewalks.
A designated bike path in the area is also part of the work involved.
Borasky said though the Calvada Eye is not officially a park the county wants to give locals another location to enjoy the scenery.
“When they finish the sidewalks and everything I think the entire project will be pretty much done,” he said. “I know the crews are trying to get more water to some of the trees that looked like they were dying. It looks a lot nicer now.”
and we are looking forward to some of the summer events that are coming here. We love to have people take advantage of the grounds, because it’s here for the public.”
The commissioner also said by contacting county officials, residents can actually reserve the location for various functions.
“If they want to have a wedding or something similar there’s an application form for that,” he said. “We have people fill that out for liability purposes. “It’s not officially a park but people do use the picnic style areas every day. Other than that, we’ve got all kinds of walkers and joggers who like to come and walk around the park to get exercise.”