New WW park Raises a Fuss in Raleigh, N.C.
Just below Falls Dam, the Neuse River rapids can churn up a bubbling playground of 3-foot waves, a brief shock of commotion on an otherwise sleepy waterway.
To paddlers, it’s the perfect spot for a whitewater park. With $350,000, [the city Raleigh, North Carolina] has taken the first steps toward making this stretch a more picturesque version of the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte.
But as their plans unfold, so does opposition. To people who remember the Neuse before it was dammed, any further fiddling with its natural course is a slap in the face. Many are pushing for an all-natural park that won’t look fake or chase off wildlife…..Read more at
newsobserver.com/2010/02/26/358962/rapids-project-stirs-fans-of-neuse.html
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March 5, 2010 5:23 am
I serve on the committee of paddlers advocating the development of this facility and hope that readers will also look at the perspective of the paddling community. Our website is fallswhitewater park.org. I think what the above referenced article does not do is characterize the tremendous amount of support this project has received relative to the small number of people opposing it.
The area is suffering significant erosion of the channel that already represents a non-natural course and we believe that the proposed project in its entirety (including possible streambank stabilization) will improve existing riparian and instream aquatic habitat at the site in addition to providing an attractive public resource.