Grand Rapids Whitewater

Do you prefer this cascading waterfall?

Conceptual photograph of 'landscaped' 4th St dam.

Or this lowhead dam?  

Existing dam, known by river experts as a 'drowning machine.'

Could Grand Rapids’ benefit from a picturesque new tourist attraction?  A wild, scenic, cascading waterfall right downtown?  It’s known by several names; The 6th Street Dam, 4th St. Dam, Fishing Dam and even The Falls.  The dam is appreciated by a few, ignored by most.  It was built in the mid 19th century to create a mill pond to provide water power for the huge furniture industry that GR was known for.  Today, it  simply serves the purpose of stalling seasonal anadromous fish en route to upriver spawning beds, indeed, providing a top, nationally recognized fishing hot spot (some would argue that additionally, the dam halts the lamprey eel from reaching theirs.)  But, it’s ugly and it is extremely dangerous (see Lowhead Dam Dangers on this web site). It does also create a vast pond that provides an urban recreational opportunity for water skiers, rowers and sea kayakers upstream at Riverside Park.  But, the dam kills people just as dead as if they went over Niagara Falls.  

Is there an environmentally friendly way to mitigate the inherent dangers of the Fishing Dam and keep the existing river recreation?  GRWW believes so.  Face it! We propose* ‘facing’ the dam with landscape boulders,  stone and concrete made to look ‘real’ (see conceptual photo above -top.)  You can view such sculpted masonry work at various John Ball Zoo exhibits, Michigan’s Adventure Park and even miniature golf establishments.  By breaking up the perfect recirculating hydraulics of the lowhead dam, the flow is rendered harmless, save for a few bumps or bruises that might be experienced by a whitewater enthusiast.  The dam would also be a boon to our downtown economy, creating an important destination for visitors.  No one can say exactly how many jobs and businesses would be created, but it’s safe to say that everyone already living and working downtown would be do better. 

Let’s face it, this just might be the win win solution we need.  

Read more about the proposed changes to the Grand River downtown, please read Grand River Whitewater Park Preferred Alternative on this web site.

* GRWW does not propose going forward with any such alterations to the river or it’s surroundings until the proper environmental impact studies have been completed.

Tags: 6th St dam, artificial whitewater park, dam modification, drowning machine, Grand Rapids, Grand River, hydrolics, Low head dam, low head dam modification

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 12:41 pm and is filed under Economy, Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.