Daily Herald covers whitewater park proposal in Aurora.
Link to article here.
Article text from the Daily Herald link here (Published: 11/8/2007 12:14 PM | Updated: 11/9/2007 12:12 AM):
Former Olympic kayaker Scott Shipley of Colorado,
and Jim Tibensky, of Wayne, kayak on the Fox River in Aurora. Both
support the idea of building a whitewater park along the river, which
would be the state's first such urban park.
Marcelle Bright | Staff Photographer (Daily Herald)
Kayaker envisions state's first whitewater park - on the Fox River
At first, even Charlie Zine didn't take his idea to build a whitewater park on the Fox River too seriously.
The venue, he thought a year ago, could draw thousands
to downtown Aurora and, in the process, make the river safer for
everyone.
Still, it seemed to be a pipe dream, even to him.
"When I started, I thought the plan had no chance,"
said Zine, an Aurora kayaker. "But it was a noble effort and a battle
that needed to be fought."
So he shared the idea with others. He enlisted the help
of Olympic kayaker Scott Shipley, who lives in Colorado and designs
whitewater parks.
Shipley helped draft a concept plan, which includes
renovating a canoe chute in Aurora and improving dams in Aurora and
Montgomery.
Now, to even his surprise, Zine's proposed
multimillion-dollar urban kayak park -- which would be the state's
first -- is edging closer to reality.
The city is considering including it as part of its
creation of River's Edge Park. State leaders have seen the conceptual
plans. And several groups and governmental agencies are backing the
idea.
"There's been so much support, we actually believe it
will happen," said Zine, who founded the Pigeon Hill Paddlers and heads
a citizens group dedicated to preserving the river.
Organizers still face multiple challenges, mostly
financial, but Zine says he's amazed at the progress of his grassroots
campaign to make Aurora the "next great adventure town."
"We can do this project," Shipley said. "It's very real. It's not a pipe dream."
The vision
Zine first was lured to the idea of river excitement after reading "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" as a kid.
He and friends built a raft and floated along the Fox
from Carpentersville to Dundee. Now he spends as much time as possible
on the river - up to four days a week.
Though the Fox River is Aurora's biggest strength, he says, the city has never taken full advantage of it.
Building a whitewater park for kayakers, tubers, canoeists and rafters of all ages and skill levels could help do that, he said.
The park could bring in thousands of visitors and help
spur downtown revitalization by attracting hotels, eateries and
sporting stores, supporters say.
It could hold Olympic-qualifying events and bring
visibility to a sport that's moving from remote mountain streams and
rivers into the heart of bustling downtowns, they say.
Today, there are more than 40 whitewater parks nationwide, in places such as South Bend, Ind., and Wausau, Wis.
Many cities, in fact, are recognizing them as a key to
economic booms in their downtowns. And as they continue to move into
the mainstream, they're attracting thousands of new fans who wouldn't
otherwise be exposed to the sports.
Take, for example, Reno, Nev., a gambling center of about 250,000.
Reno's downtown came alive when the $1.5 million Truckee River Whitewater Park opened in 2004, leaders say.
The half-mile venue became a "tremendous" catalyst for
redevelopment, said Mary Paoli, spokesman for the Reno-Sparks
Convention and Visitors Authority.
The park hosts the annual Reno River Festival,
featuring one of the world's top kayaking events and attracting more
than 32,000 visitors in a single weekend.
Reno leaders estimate that festival alone pumps about $4 million a year into the economy.
"The park has become the heart of our downtown," a
community leader told "Paddlesports Business" this summer. "Reno used
to be this dusty old gaming town; now it's America's adventure town."
The timing is right for Aurora to follow that lead, supporters say.
Aldermen recently approved a master plan for River's
Edge Park and the Riverwalk. The 30-acre site is intended to be a
smaller version of Chicago's Millennium Park, with a music venue,
botanical garden and nature center.
"It fits so well with what Aurora is already trying to do," Shipley said.
Making it safer
The project wouldn't be that difficult to implement, leaders say, and could be done at a reasonable cost.
First, Zine proposes completely renovating the existing canoe chute in downtown Aurora, which may be structurally unsafe.
The bypass channel, at the northwest bank of the river
adjacent to Stolp Island, would be widened and deepened, and a big
entry pool would be created.
A spectator viewing area would be built. The concrete
gates would be removed, allowing paddlers to travel both upstream and
downstream. In short, it would "quit looking like a glorified sewer and
more like a natural-looking water stream," Zine said.
Workers also would eliminate the dangerous undercurrents in the nearby east and west channel dams, making them safer.
A "killer hydraulic" at the base of the west channel
dam already has contributed to several deaths. The undercurrent is so
strong that it can suck boaters in and make escape virtually impossible.
Zine proposes creating a series of drop structures,
each between one and three feet deep, that help break up the energy. It
also will improve water quality and fish habitats, he said.
A dam in Montgomery also would be renovated. Workers
there would create a bypass channel and remove the earthen dam. The
concrete dam would be left as is.
Those changes would allow paddlers to travel from
Aurora to Yorkville and be part of a larger regional waterway. They
also allow a 40-mile water trail from around North Aurora southwest to
the Dayton dam in Dayton Township, to become more feasible.
An early cost estimate for the two bypass channels and
dam renovations is around $5.5 million, Zine said. Ideally, the park
could open by 2010.
Challenges ahead
Funding, predictably, may be the biggest obstacle.
The park ultimately would be state-run and -operated,
Zine said. But multiple agencies would need to cooperate in the
building of it.
Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner said he's excited about the idea, calling it a "creative way" to remove a dangerous dam.
The city hasn't yet officially approved the concept.
Leaders say they would look for both private and public partners to
move the idea ahead.
Zine has met with the director and engineers from the
Office of Water Resources, part of the Illinois Department of Natural
Resources, about the concept, and they were "open-minded."
He plans to ask the city of Aurora to pay for early
engineering work, which could cost around $150,000, and provide more
detailed and realistic cost estimates for the state.
Supporters also are waiting on state leaders to pass a
bill that includes funding for dam safety. Then they hope to ensure
Aurora receives some of the money.
"We have already put millions into the river, and now we're looking to the state to reciprocate," Zine said.
Several groups, including business leaders and
environmentalists, already support the idea. And about 70 kayakers from
around the state visited Aurora a few weeks ago for an
end-of-the-season run to back the plan.
"The thought of a whitewater park in downtown Aurora of
any kind is a wonderful and grand idea," said Erik Sprenne, of the
Chicago Whitewater Association.
It also would offer school, church and Scouting groups
numerous recreational opportunities, said Sigrid Pilgrim, director of
the Illinois Paddling Council.
But others have concerns.
Chuck Roberts, president of Friends of the Fox River, said he would prefer if possible to remove the dangerous dams altogether.
"Dams create a breeding ground for algae, and the
byproduct of that growth is that the water has huge swings in oxygen
content," he said. "It gets to the point where fish life doesn't want
to live in it."
He said his group is "not actively opposing (the plan), which is as much support as we can give."
Removal's not an option for all dams. Hollywood Casino
Aurora is supported by the pond created by the west and east channel
dams.
Zine knows his work is far from finished. But it has come a long way in a year, he said, and that's encouraging.
"It's just been amazing how complex the process is," he says.
Recent Comments