By Dave Tobin
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
STATE OFFICIAL PUSHES FOR KAYAK PARK; Randy Daniels, Secretary of State, supports Auburn planners' idea during visit.
Flanked by kayaks in Auburn's City Council chambers, New York's
Secretary of State Randy Daniels talked about dreams Tuesday.
He was speaking about Auburn planners' dream for making the Owasco
Outlet through Auburn a kayak park.
"This exemplifies the type of project we'd like to encourage all over
New York state," Daniels said.
Before the day was out, Daniels told city officials he was making a
"preliminary decision to provide funding" for the kayak park project. He
didn't say how much.
City planners have submitted a grant application seeking $250,000 to
develop the park along the waterway. The plan would place boulders in
the waterway to create rapids for an Olympic-class, white-water kayak
run. Loop Road from Genesee Street to North Street would be reduced from
four lanes to three, so the south bank of the waterway could be widened
and terraced. A new walkway would be cantilevered over the waterway's
north bank, and a kayak takeout would be built off Garden Street, near
the Health Central parking lot. Market Street Park would be upgraded.
In 2002, Daniels' office granted the city $90,000 to develop the plan.
Steve Lynch, Auburn city planner, said the city would be ready to begin
construction next spring.
Art Miller, a kayaking consultant for the project, said a kayaking
course could help attract national-level kayaking competitions, like the
Junior National Olympics. Currently, there are two Olympic-level
kayaking courses in the state, he said - one in Penn Yan, which he
helped design, and one in the Catskills, near Woodstock.
"We'll bring Olympians into town to help with the coaching," he said.
Competitive kayaking courses are like ski slalom courses, with kayakers
paddling around temporary gates. The courses typically run 900 feet,
which is usually traversed in about 90 seconds, he said.
Miller said the waterway's improvements would benefit more than
kayakers.
"By creating the white-water course, we'll create faster water and
we'll create eddies," he said. "That's where your fish are going to hang
out."
