There's still a dam and a pond. 

Growing up in Kenwood just up from the park I remember in the early 1960s there was a time when there were sewer overflows from the Airforce housing (Capehart).

I seem to recall that there was a question then about the dams and heard it would cost too much to dredge the ponds and rebuild the dam walls. I used to fish for trout with an old neighbor there who grew up in the Chester area in the 1920s.

I grew up over there too. I used to deliver the afternoon Duluth Herald to the chalet, and I also remember the lower pond in front of the ski jumps. I remember crossing the dam back then seemed like a big deal. You had the pond on one side and a 20ish(?) foot drop on the other. I thought they drained it to extend the landing slope of Big Chester after more experienced jumpers (e.g. Jim Denny) started out-jumping the capacity of the landing area. But since they never replaced and re-flooded the lower pond after the death of ski jumping, I guess there must have been a different reason after all. Maybe it was to recover all those tires that we used to send off the jump. Probably made it easier for Tom Storms to chase kids/climbers off the jump, too.