UA Marr’s Pond Environmental Restoration Project to be Showcased April 25

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The newly restored Marr’s Pond – a historic campus site University of Alabama students once used as a swimming hole or a place for marriage proposals – will be showcased to the community by the UA Student Government Association Monday, April 25, at 2:30 p.m.

Marr’s Pond is located at the intersection of McCorvey and Campus Drives behind the Student Services Building.

The event will include a brief walk through of the area and of the different indigenous plants that were specially chosen to be planted at the site. Sketches of the area in bloom for this coming fall and next spring will also be on display.

“Our initial plan from the beginning was to use plants indigenous to Alabama,” explained Hal Mooty, UA SGA president, who helped organize the project.

“We strongly believed that a large part of the success of the project was dependent on continuing to maximize the beauty of this campus by using what is all around us. This type of project on our campus is unprecedented in its effort to promote the natural ecosystem at Marr’s Pond so that the area can be a learning tool for students in and out of the classroom,” he said.

A master plan for Marr’s Pond was created by Ross & Kelly Landscape Architects of Birmingham, and the design was broken down into work phases done by students. “The intent all along was to have the project professionally drawn up and overseen with students aiding in the majority of the actual planting,” Mooty noted.

Site prep work began during spring break; the first day of planting for UA students began on April 9 with completion set for April 25.

“We are thrilled with the upcoming completion of the project and have been so thankful for the support that we have received from the UA administration and West Alabama community,” Mooty said.

“Since this project began, more and more people will pass by and stop at Marr’s Pond to ask questions and encourage those who are working. More plant and aquatic life has already been added, and the effects of such an initiative are already beginning to show,” Mooty said.

For more information, contact Hal Mooty, UA SGA president at 334/538-5785, mooty001@bama.ua.edu.