RIVER CITY RUSH


Last Word T


his year promises to see great change in downtown Columbus


with the coming of the whitewater run on the Chattahoochee, at 2.5 miles said to be the longest urban whitewater run in the world. Make that runs, since the river will be divided into east and a west runs corresponding closely to the origi- nal natural current of the river. I don’t know what these new runs are going to be called, but if I have the layout cor- rect they correspond closely to the old Coweta run on the west side of the river and the Cusseta run on the east. Tese runs were so called because, in the old days when the Creek Indians were still here, the Indian women and boys of those villages used to come to the falls to fish with dip nets in their respec- tive runs. Later, aſter Columbus was founded, these runs were rented to pro- fessional fishermen who sold their catch in the city. But the “River City Rush” as the city


calls it, involves more than raſts and kayaks. By cracking the Eagle & Phenix and City Mills dams, the project is said to be restoring the natural habitat of the river, even to the point of bringing back the shoal bass population and creating a “fisherman’s paradise.” So says the proj- ect’s promotional literature on the web. Don’t know about you, but


I am


mightily curious about the whitewater project and the changes it will bring to the city and its downtown. Tat it will bring changes now seems no lon- ger in question. When combined with the improvements and changes that have taken place on or near the river in recent years—the Riverwalk, Chat- tahoochee River Club, Port Columbus Naval Museum, downtown campus of Columbus State University, Coca Cola Space Science Center, Civic Center,


80


Convention and Trade Center, Eagle & Phenix loſt apartments, Springer Opera House, TSYS and Synovus offices, Riv- erCenter for the Performing Arts, to name a few—we can see the assembling of a critical mass of venues that cannot help but attract more tourists and locals into the area. Trow in the academic buildings CVCC and Troy


are said to


be planning on the Phenix City side of the river and the development of the old shopping area recently purchased by the W.C. Bradley Real Estate Divi- sion, and you get a fuller picture of what the future of the area could be like. This does not include the National Infantry Museum, which is close enough to the river to be connected by a water taxi to the downtown, nor the possibility that Westville Historic Village may relocate near Oxbow Meadows, itself an attrac- tion to both locals and tourists. In recent years, old Broadway has


shucked off its shady past and begun to develop its own attractive venues, including restaurants, bars, coffee shops and a vibrant music scene that espe- cially appeals to the college crowd, but also attracts people from as far away as Atlanta and Montgomery. Many outsid- ers already know of the Cannon Brew Pub and Te Loſt, the latter being com- parable to any music venue of its type in the Southeast. Not since the late 1970s and the early


1980s, when the renaissance of the downtown into Uptown began, have we had such an opportunity to meld so many venues into commercial, rec- reational, educational


and historical


attractions. Success will not be inevita- ble, of course, and care needs to be taken in developing of the roads, put-ins and take-outs and the other support services for the whitewater project. Integrating


Columbus and the Valley


the project and its accompanying ven- ues into the urban setting of Uptown is vitally important to its success. So is gaining the support and participation of locals. In fact, long experience shows that most waterfront venues in the U.S. sink or fail according to the support given them by local residents. I have long since been won over by


the project, which has been expertly managed by John Turner. Neverthe- less, I know that those of us who live in Uptown and in the Historic District are especially concerned with the afore- mentioned put-in and take-out areas for the rafters and kayakers, the roads that will be necessary to provide access and egress from the river and the com- mercial development—shops, restau- rants and bars, etc.—that will likely fol- low completion of the project. A little reassurance on these aspects of project would not hurt. If you have not been tracking the


development of the whitewater proj- ect of late, you might enjoy a walk on the Phenix City side of the river above the old 14th Street bridge. Te power of the rapids and currents is impres- sive, to say the least, especially since the City Mills dam has been breached. And the views of Columbus from that side are startling and novel, even to an old river rat like myself. My guess is that, among the many benefits to our town from the whitewater project is going to be a renewed interest in and use of the Riverwalk on both sides of the Chatta- hoochee. See you there. C


April 2013


by Billy Winn


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