Former Männiku landfill becomes lake with public beach

Residents of Estonia’s capital have a new place to swim and sunbathe as a former landfill in Männiku has been transformed into a lake and public beach, ERR reports.

The lake is the newest part of the Männiku quarry in Harju County. Seven years ago, the site was still a landfill, but it has now been excavated and developed into a public beach at the request of Saku municipality by TREV2.

The beach has a very gradual slope. The water is about one metre deep roughly 10 metres from the shoreline, with deeper water beginning beyond that, TREV2 mining engineer Paul Toomik said.

“It is already a very large and pleasant area for children to swim in,” Toomik said.

The quarry may look somewhat bleak at first, but many pine trees have been planted around the lake and the landscape is expected to improve over time. Cars cannot yet reach the beach, but access should improve after work in the adjacent quarry ends next year.

TREV2 has proposed naming the lake Toomiku Lake, after Toomik, who worked at the quarry throughout its operating life.

The name must still be approved by Saku municipality and the Land and Spatial Development Board. The municipality said it would consider the proposal once an official application had been submitted.

Annika Lebert, head of the board’s service for the organisation of addresses and administrative divisions, said the name appeared to meet the requirements of Estonia’s Place Names Act and the Estonian language. She added that it was connected to the person who had worked at the quarry and that the board had no objections to it.

Historical maps show that about 100 years ago, the area occupied by the lake consisted only of sand and an empty field. Tooma Road already exists nearby.