Ah here is the article. Looks like it was a good time for all.
06/19/2005
Secrets of the deep
By Jeff Mill , The Herald Press
PORTLAND -- Now it can be revealed: the secret of how the North Quarry stays so cool. Its all the air conditioners people have thrown into the quarry.
Saturday, some 50 civilian and police Scuba divers took part in the first day of a two-day quarry cleanup effort. And they did not lack for objects to retrieve from under the placid waters of the quarry.
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They brought up a half-dozen air conditioners, a water heater, two bicycles, a dirt bike, and a safe containing lottery tickets and a small amount cash.
They also hoisted the first of perhaps half-a-dozen cars in the quarry, a 1995 Dodge Omni, which, incredibly, still had license plates on it.
The rusted hulk was brought to the surface with the aid of 1,800 pounds of inflatable dive bags and then lashed to a Zodiac and towed to shore. There, it was loaded onto a car carrier and hauled away.
The cleanup was organized by the three Hayes Brothers -- Ed, Frank, and Sean -- the three area residents with strong roots in Portland who are proposing to develop the North Quarry as a dive site and water center.
Ed Hayes said the event Saturday (it continues today from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) was intended to begin the process of cleaning out the quarries which have become a dumping ground since they closed 70 years ago after being flooded.
But Sean Hayes said the event was also intended to serve as an open house, to enable residents to come and see for themselves what the brothers are proposing to do. The brothers propose to lease the quarries from the town, undertake a cleanup that could cost upwards of $750,000, and then develop it as the only fresh-water dive site in New England or the Northeast. (A tentative lease agreement is currently being reviewed by town officials.)
The brothers say they intend to include swimming, canoeing -- and rock-climbing.
Climbers from a local group, Vertical Realms, LLC, were hung out along the high south face of the quarry Saturday demonstrating the dramatic possibilities of rock climbing. But they were also doing something practical, Sean Hayes explained.
The climbers were cleaning the cliff face by hand, removing the broken glass that has accumulated on outcroppings over the years, "so when climbers go up they will have a clean hand-hold."
The entrance to the quarry looked like a cross between Woodstock and a military operation, with muscular young men and women resting under open-sided tents while rows of ominous-looking tanks and gear stood ready.
Ed Hayes had put out the call to both civilian divers and police units from throughout the region on short notice. Still,dozens of them responded.
One of those who did was Officer Ray Minor of the Glastonbury Police Department. Minor is also a charter member of CREST, the Capitol Region Emergency Service search and rescue dive team.
The team is made up of officers from six area police departments: East Hartford, Glastonbury, Hartford, Rocky Hill, South Windsor, and Wethersfield.
"The big advantage the quarry has is no current," Minor said, explaining the team usually dives in the fast-current Connecticut River.
"The visibility here is great, and there is a lot to see," he added. "It is a fun place to dive."
"I think theyre off to a great start, Minor said of the Hayes brothers. "Im glad they invited us out."
Ed Hayes said it was an easy call.
"Divers want to do something that is kind of a challenge, and kind of a task," he explained.
While the cadre of divers worked to clean out the quarry, volunteers from the Brownstone Quorum, the group that oversees the quarry, lent their hands to cleaning up a portion of the area on land that adjoins the quarry. Specifically, they hauled dozens of abandoned tires out from behind a nearby house.
"I do not dive," explained Sean Hayes, who is a turn-around business specialist. But, he added, "I will enjoy the service activities of the park."
The brothers say they will pay the town up to 15 percent of the park entrance fees in exchange for a renewable five-year lease.
First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said a series of independent analyses of the town all suggest developing the quarries to act as a lure to bring visitors to town. Having a unique attraction like the water park in town -- the closest such park is in eastern Pennsylvania -- could act as spur for the growth of downtown businesses, the studies concluded.
Standing on the promontory facing out toward the quarries, Ed Hayes could see big puffy white clouds piled up in the sky to the north, and the sun glinting off the water. "This was a good day, an excellent day," he said.
Hayes would have been even happier if he had heard Officer Minors observation: "This is like a divers paradise," he said.
The brothers will return today to continue the cleanup effort. They hope to remove another car from the quarry floor. However, Sean Hayes brought copies of the proposal -- including maps -- of what he and his brothers propose. He urged as many residents as possible to come down and see and discuss the proposal.
To contact Jeff Mill, call (860) 347-3331 ext. 221 or email
jmill@middletownpress.com.
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©The Middletown Press 2005
