Detroit residents turn hole in street into a fishing pond

DETROIT - People living in a Detroit neighborhood are so fed up with a construction site, they turned it into a fishing pond.

Carp, blue gill, and even goldfish were released into this water-filled hole on Hull Street one month ago. It's about 4 feet wide, 15 feet long, and a couple feet deep and residents say it has been there for about three or four years.

"My husband, he's a fisherman, he put them in the pond," said Yvette Pugh. "We let them swim, we take care of them, we feed them. It's relaxing, its solitude, and people come by watch the fish swim."

Sonia, from Auntie Na's Community Outreach, said the fishing hole serves as a poke at the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department for shutting off the water.

"If fish can have free water, why not make a pond out of the free water that's flowing in the middle of the street," she said.

City officials confirm that at least two years ago a gas utility company dug the hole, placed a temporary patch over it, and then removed it. For some reason, it never finished the job.

Meanwhile, water from a nearby broken main began to leak, into the hole.

"Why not do something positive out of something negative in our community," said Sonia.

Water Department officials are now inspecting the hole, and seeing where to go from here.

"It's something to see," said Pugh. "This is the only block on this neighborhood that has a pond with fish in it."