Monday, Feb. 19, 2007

Kayak event access limited

Columbia cannot afford to finish greenway along river for fans to watch 2008 competition

The city of Columbia says it doesn't have the money to build a section of the Three Rivers Greenway around Riverbanks Zoo in time for a 2008 international kayaking competition. The Junior Wildwater World Championships is the first such competition to be held in the Saluda River "Mill Race" rapids. The competition will give the city's riverfront worldwide publicity and could signal Columbia's emergence as a national paddling destination.

Organizers of the event plan to hold the competition anyway despite the city's inability to build the Greenway section. "The Greenway would enhance the course and increase the number of points at which spectators could view it," said David Yarborough, executive director of USA Canoe/Kayak, a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and the national governing body for U.S. canoe and kayak racing.

"But the absence of it doesn't jeopardize the quality of the event," Yarborough said from his Charlotte office. "There are still plenty of viewing areas. And the most exciting part of the race will be the finish line" at the Gervais Street bridge.

The money shortage for the Saluda Riverwalk portion of the Greenway comes as critics are questioning city grants totaling $2 million to Columbia College and Allen University. That money, intended for tourist-related activities, could have completed at least one phase of the Greenway, making the event more attractive to participants and spectators.

The championship is expected to draw about 100 to 125 competitors from around the world -- Europe, South America and Asia -- and two or three times as many support staff, officials and volunteers.

Yarborough said the organization chose Columbia because of its downtown rivers and proximity to the new man-made U.S. National White Water Center in Charlotte.

The 2008 competition will be split between locations in Charlotte and Columbia. Sprints will be held in Charlotte and distance races in Columbia.

"We like Columbia because it's urban and really adds a dimension to the race," Yarborough said. The course "is close to the zoo and downtown. Our hope is that a lot of people who don't know anything about the sport will come out. A rural river would be hard for them to access."

The River Alliance, the multigovernmental and business partnership guiding development along the city's rivers, opened bids in September to build the greenway section. It is to stretch south from a planned pedestrian bridge at Interstate 26 to the confluence of the Saluda and Broad rivers below the zoo.

But the city is about $3 million short of the $6.5 million needed to build the section. Bids came in at nearly double the cost estimates made in 2000.

Also, the cost of other parts of the greenway has increased. Besides rising construction costs, two sections were made more elaborate: The Esplanade, at the Canal- Side residential development, and Canal Front, a plaza between the Ed Venture children's museum and the river.

The money on hand for the Saluda Riverwalk is coming from federal highway dollars, a special city/county taxing district and the city of West Columbia.

The West Columbia and federal dollars are to be used primarily to build the I-26 bridge, linking the Columbia and West Columbia sections of the riverfront park.

Mayor Bob Coble said he didn't know when the remaining money needed might be available.

City Council already has scrapped plans for a pedestrian bridge across the confluence of the Saluda and Broad rivers, linking the south end of the Saluda Riverwalk to a popular greenway section along the Columbia Canal, he said.

"We just found the money for Phase 2 of Main Street," the mayor said, referring to the project to beautify Main Street and upgrade utilities.

The Saluda Riverwalk "is certainly on the agenda, but like any other capital project, we're methodically going through (the city's finances) to make sure there is money."

City Council member Kirkman Finlay said the shortfall of money for the greenway is symptomatic of larger problems: Too many capital projects going on at the same time, poor long-term planning and muddled bookkeeping.

"No one seems to know for sure" how much money is in the city's capital improvement accounts, Finlay said. "That lack of understanding is a real concern."

On Jan. 4, The State requested documents under the Freedom of Information Act that would show, among other information requested, balances in the greenway accounts.

The city has not yet provided those documents. In a brief Jan. 24 letter, city chief financial officer Lisa Rolan said it could be March 1 before the records were available. She has not returned repeated telephone calls on the matter.

City manager Charles Austin reiterated the delay in a letter Wednesday. He could not immediately be reached for comment when his letter was received Friday.

The city could do just Phase 1 of the Saluda Riverwalk project -- the bridge, a ranger station with restrooms, kayak put-ins and trails north of the zoo -- to make it ready for competition, River Alliance officials say. That would require $1.3 million from City Council.

Short of that, River Alliance executive director Mike Dawson said officials will try to make the experience as pleasant as possible for championship spectators.

Hundreds gather now at the Mill Race rapids during nice days in the summer, but there are no facilities and the going can be rough.

"The baseline is we would clear off an area around the zoo that is now a briar-infested jungle so more people can watch," Dawson said.

Reach Wilkinson at (803) 771-8495.

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