How Erie turned an old water treatment facility into a public wetlands park

Just across Coal Creek from Erie’s Reliance Park, a new trail and boardwalk wind through a large space with grassy wetlands — now open to the public.

A grand opening on Saturday marked the completion of the Erie Wetlands project at 1000 Briggs St., which began construction in 2023. Creating the Erie Wetlands, a roughly 10-acre space, meant converting wastewater lagoons into water quality ponds, also called “constructed wetlands,” according to town spokesperson Gabi Rae.

Erie started planning in 2021 to convert the wetland space near its recycling center and defunct water treatment plant, the town’s website says. The man-made lagoons were built around 1955 and abandoned about four decades later, according to the town. A former part of the treatment facility, they used biosolids — nutrient