A low-head dam in Southern Indiana that’s been mired in controversy for more than four years will be torn down.
The city of New Albany announced Thursday it had reached a settlement with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources that includes removal of the Providence Mill Dam, also known as the Glenwood Park Dam, in Silver Creek.
According to the agreement, the city has until Jan. 1 to authorize a contractor for the local nonprofit River Heritage Conservancy to remove the dam and issue permits. According to the city’s release, it will allow removal “when water conditions are safe to enter.”
The city must also relocate or remove the unpermitted rocks placed there last year by then.
New Albany agreed to withdraw an October petition for the Indiana Supreme Court to weigh in on the dam, and the filing shows it intends to seek permitting to build a rock riffle, a feature used for improving habitat , a feature used for improving habitat and stability, in the creek.
Indiana DNR brought the civil case in August 2024, after New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan had rocks placed in front of the dam to stop the recirculating hydraulic current.
The city’s unauthorized modification of the structure came two months after 14-year-old A.J. Edwards Jr. drowned there, and more than three years into legal challenges by the city over its removal.
In the city’s statement this week, Gahan characterized the settlement as a success.
The mayor also pointed to a portion of the settlement that acknowledged the rock was placed for safety reasons.
“I knew from the start that we were doing the right thing to protect public safety by initiating our emergency maintenance at the historic Glenwood Park Dam, and this agreement proves it,” Gahan said. “Now that this matter is behind us, we can focus on our new addition to Silver Creek that will improve recreation, fishing, and the ecosystem for decades to come.”
According to the agreement, Indiana DNR will not issue a notice of violation or civil penalty if the city complies with rock removal or relocation.
Challenges over the fate of the dam started in 2021, when a contractor for River Heritage Conservancy secured a permit to remove it as part of plans for Origin Park.
In a statement Friday, River Heritage board chair Kent Lanum celebrated that the “dangerous dam” would be removed and called the settlement “a big win for all the citizens of this region.”
“This action will also allow Silver Creek to be opened back up for safe kayaking and revert to its natural state, healing over the next several years as the successive floods help to reestablish the creek’s natural bed to its original state and allow for the propagation of more wildlife and fish to call Silver Creek its home,” he said.
Gahan said in the city’s statement that conditions at Silver Creek Landing and around the dam have “changed drastically” since a separate low-head dam upstream failed in February. That was removed in July.
Multiple court cases have been filed around this dam over the past several years, including a lawsuit by Edwards’ mother blaming the city and other entities for his death.
In October, Gahan declined to provide information to the New Albany City Council on how much the administration had spent on the cases.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
