The Dispatch is running a story today announcing that the Olentangy Dam located at 5th Avenue will be coming down sometime in the not-too-distant future. This is great news because not only will it help to clean up some of the more polluted parts of this river, but it will open up the waterway from OSU all the way into Downtown. Kayakers and Canoers rejoice!
While we’re on the subject of water travel, let’s not stop there! What about the idea of water taxis and water buses? Is there enough of a demand to go from campus (there could be stops right outside the stadium or the medical center) into downtown (North Bank Park already has a boating ramp) on a regular basis? What about just during special events like OSU football game days or Red White and Boom?
Personally, I think it would be more of a novelty than a viable form of daily transportation, but who cares? Columbus could use a couple more novelties in my opinion.
The Dispatch story is below:
Dam demolition will leave river smaller, cleaner
Saturday, December 8, 2007
BY MARK FERENCHIKThe 5th Avenue dam on the Olentangy River is coming down. The question is when.
After months of hand-wringing and prodding from Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman, city utilities officials have decided to remove the dam just south of the Ohio State University campus. That will help clean the water on that section of the river and open a larger stretch for canoeists and kayakers, they said.
There’s no timetable for demolition, Tilton said. There’s a state deadline of September 2008, although there’s some wiggle room.
Water taxis would be a novelty but a cool one. I read recently where FLOW was advocating for a water trail that started at Kenny Park. I guess this is part of the same plan. Wouldn’t it be cool to boat to football games or other campus and downtown events?
This also creates an ecotourism opportunity. A scenic urban river tour would be an attraction that would put Columbus on the map. Our rivers and streams are our only natural feature worth bragging about. Let’s protect and use them! I could imagine a tour starting at High Banks and ending at the Audubon Center at Whittier Park. We could use Flexcars to shuttle people from beginning to end.