CHESTERTON — A stream at northern Indiana's popular Indiana Dunes State Park has been restored to its natural condition more than 80 years after being channeled into a buried pipe.
State officials who dedicated the restored Dunes Creek on Wednesday say the project returned the stream's natural ecosystem, provides additional flood protection and improves the quality of water flowing into Lake Michigan.
The Great Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps rerouted Dunes Creek through a culvert during the 1930s, and two parking lots were later built atop the area.
The creek's 1,500-foot-long stretch was restored in two phases, the first in 2005 by design and the second in response to damage caused by 2008 flooding.
Indiana Dunes State Park opened in 1925. The 2,200-acre park encompasses more than three miles of continuous lakeside beachfront.
