John Hummel, 80, of Grove City remembers the Great Depression, when people canoed between the dams on Wolf Creek to get where they needed to go.

In the next year or so, his mind's eye will be the only place Hummel will be able to see the century-old dams.

Monday, Grove City council decided that the dams, bounding the creek at North Street and under the East Main Street bridge, need to be removed.

"Our general liability insurance carrier questions whether or not they'll cover us when we renew ... because of the existence of those two dams -- because of their age, their condition. It's a possibility if they crack or break they could cause downstream problems," said Borough Manager Terence Farren.

The dams won't be removed immediately, he said, adding that the upper dam will probably be removed during a PennDOT bridge project on North Street next year.

According to Hummel and Grove City College biology professor Dr. Fred Brenner, the dams were put in place at least a century ago to power grist mills. Later, the lower dam was used for hydroelectric power the borough's first electric company. Some of the hydroelectric equipment can still be seen at the lower dam, Farren said.

Brenner, who utilizes Wolf Creek for ecology classes, thinks taking out the dams will be a good thing for the environment.

"I think as far as the stream ecology is concerned, it's going to be beneficial. It will restore the natural stream system to that area," he said. "It will be shallower, the water will just go into the stream channel. It may actually improve it in some ways. There'll be more nesting areas for the ducks on the sides. I don't see it really having an adverse impact long term."

According to Farren, the Pennsylvania Boat and Fish Commission supports the action not only here but across the state as well. "Now there's efforts across the state and also nationwide to remove dams that no longer serve a useful purpose and restore the streams and rivers back to their normal channels. We've discussed it for several years," he said.

Farren also said he thinks that it may help, in a small way, recent flooding problems in the borough. "Well, both dams are holding pools of water behind them and in the case of the upper dam, it's holding water into Black Run, a tributary to Wolf Creek, and when it can't empty into Wolf Creek, it may affect our sanitary sewer lift station up on Hillcrest Avenue."

Brenner foresees the creek becoming thinner and more streamlined, and the creation of some additional wetlands, but expects Wolf Creek to be safer.

"In a lot of ways, it's a dangerous situation because you've got a dam on the river's edge. If anything lodged on the dam between the bridge builds up in there with more and more debris, it could be a problem," Brenner said. "A lot of these old dams are deteriorating, and the position is they have to do something, have to take them out or put some money into them to repair them, and from an ecological viewpoint, they're better off removing them."

Though Hummel understands borough officials' concerns, he still felt sad about the passing of the former mill dams. "I'd rather see them stay myself," he said.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Sherris Moreira-Byers at sbyers@sharonherald.com