Groups want Columbia to make waves on park plan

By JEFF WILKINSON jwilkinson@thestate.com

C. Aluka Berry

'Chewy' the dog takes the plunge into the Saluda River Friday as Jocelyn Veit, left, Lindsay Hudson and David Jones watch. A greenway park planned for a spot nearby has been delayed for 10 months.

Three influential regional boards today will urge Columbia City Council to take control of land around Riverbanks Zoo to build a new greenway park along the Saluda River.

Regional tourism leaders are frustrated because construction of the park -- considered a centerpiece of the regional greenway -- has been stalled for 10 months while the city has been working to get a handle on its finances.

"It's a shame more attention hasn't been paid to this," said Satch Krantz, executive director of Riverbanks Zoo.

By accepting the land from SCE&G and the zoo, the city would take more responsibility for policing the often rowdy crowds at the Mill Race Rapids, especially during an international kayaking event next month.

The land acquisition also would be a first step toward building the Saluda Riverwalk, an estimated $6 million section of the regional Three Rivers Greenway running from I-26 to the Saluda's confluence with the Broad River. The trail eventually would connect with the greenway on the Lexington County side, something that's important on both sides of the river.

And, once the rapids are a park, the unfettered partying on "the rocks" could be reined in.

"This area needs to be public property so we can have some enforcement," Mayor Bob Coble said.

The River Alliance -- along with the Midlands Regional Convention Center Authority and the Riverbanks Zoo board -- will urge the city to accept the land to get the project off the bubble and clean up the rocks.

Planning and building the parks on the Columbia side of the river -- a process begun in the 1990s -- has proceeded at a crawl. However, many regional leaders are slow to criticize the city because it provides much of their organizations' funding.

"I feel like the city is a key partner on this (park) and they'll fulfill their commitment," said Jim Smith, chairman of the River Alliance, which guides development along the area's three rivers.

City documents requested by The State newspaper show about $3 million in money from a special tax district is available for construction.

But it took the city four months to answer The State's request, in part because it was eight months late in closing its books for the fiscal year that ended July 1, 2006.

City Council member Anne Sinclair said she is still not sure how much money is available for the project until she meets with financial officers and the books are audited. "I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. I would have to be very sure that the money was there," she said.

The $6 million price was about twice what was originally expected, because of added features such as a ranger station.

The mayor will advocate supplementing the cash on hand with $1 million from what he called surplus funds to complete those projects.

"The riverwalk should be a top priority," he said.

Crowds and rowdy behavior have been increasing in recent years, according to zoo officials.

Families "are in danger going to their cars at the ends of our parking lot due to what I call revelers' speeding and drinking," the zoo's Krantz said.

Each year, volunteers descend on the area to clean it up.

Last year, the Keep the Midlands Beautiful group plucked more than 2,000 cans and bottles from a 200-yard stretch around the rapids, along with nearly a ton of nonrecyclable trash.

A park would bring trash containers, picnic tables, bathrooms and a ranger and rescue station.

The regional leaders, paddlers and other river enthusiasts had hoped the park would be partially built by the time the Junior Wildwater World Championships are held July 16-19.

It is the first such competition to be held in Columbia and is expected to draw about 500 competitors and support staff from around the world.

The competition could signal Columbia's emergence as a national paddling destination. The greenway would have greatly enhanced that effect, boosters said.

"We just fumbled an opportunity," said Guy Jones, owner of the River Runner kayak and canoe shop on Gervais Street.