OKC Parks To Begin Draining, Cleaning Bricktown Canal

Oklahoma City Parks will begin the process of draining and cleaning the Bricktown Canal Tuesday.

Parks employees will first drain three million gallons of water out of the canal. They then plan to use equipment like tractors and fire hoses to remove all of the debris that's stuck on the inside.

The Bricktown Canal hasn't been cleaned in since January 2017. That's why the parks department says they'll need to use multiple resources to get the job done. This includes using local fish hatchery to relocated all the fish into the Oklahoma River. 

The Canal Taxis will also be removed and put in storage for repairs during the cleaning process. 

OKC Parks says you wouldn't believe the amount of things that get lost in the mile long canal over a three year period.

"We can do a whole story on some the things that have been found over the years when they drain the canal. Last year we had close to a dozen skateboards," says the Director of OKC Parks Doug Tupper. 

The canal cleaning is expected to take about two weeks to complete. Depending on the weather, they hope to re-open the canal in time for valentines day.