WAVE TO THE WORLD
Boathouse District park promises to make OKC a destination for river sports
Ayoung woman in shorts, black earbuds in place and riding her skateboard, breezed past the suits and ties Wednesday at Riversport Rapids.
If ever there was a sign the eyes of the world are turning to Oklahoma City, that was it.
Dignitaries gathered Wednesday afternoon to dedicate the new MAPS 3 whitewater rafting and kayaking park in the Boathouse District.
But the athletes already have made themselves at home, testing a course touted as world-class ahead of its official opening and
first event, next week’s U.S. Olympic Trials.
Completion of the $45.2 million park, financed by the 1-cent MAPS 3 sales tax and opening debt-free, marks “one of the red-letter days in our community,” Mayor Mick Cornett said.
“Enjoy this today,” he told a crowd of about 100 people gathered for the dedication, “because I think for at least another week, it belongs to us. Next week, it’ll belong to the world.”
Seven paddlers in a blue inflatable raft “cut” a red ribbon stretched across a channel to christen the park.
The 11-acre park features competition and recreational channels that will simulate river rafting experiences suitable for novices and challenging to the most highly skilled athletes.
Six pumps can circulate up to 492,000 gallons of water per minute.
Movable blocks can be adjusted to create varying degrees of difficulty, promising to make Oklahoma City a destination for paddling enthusiasts and Olympic-caliber athletes from across the globe.
Mayor reflects
Cornett touched on 25 years of milestones leading to the park taking its place on the river.
He began with the late civic leader Ray Ackerman, who dreamed of filling the perennially dry North Canadian riverbed with water to promote development that could link north and south Oklahoma City.
Voters came on board with passage of the first Metropolitan Area Projects, or MAPS, sales tax, agreeing to finance projects, including low-water dams on the river, Cornett said.
The late philanthropist Aubrey McClendon, co-founder of Chesapeake Energy Corp., “saw the dream” and with architect Rand Elliott crafted a vision for the Boathouse District.
And, Cornett said, there was a rowing enthusiast in the mix, Mike Knopp.
“There may be no more important moment than when Mike Knopp stood on the edge of this dry and dusty ditch and noticed that that straightaway might make a really good rowing venue someday,” Cornett said.
Today, the district is home to architecturally distinctive and award-winning boathouses and hosts world-class rowing competitions.
Knopp is executive director of the Boathouse Foundation and heads the team that will manage Riversport Rapids.
‘Nobody else has this’
Knopp said the vision for the Oklahoma River is “encapsulated” in the opening weekend events May 7 and 8, when Olympic hopefuls will compete for a chance to represent America in Rio de Janeiro.
Besides the competition, families will have their first chance to bring the kids and try out recreational rafting, while 1,500 young rowers from throughout the region compete on the river.
Making one of only a handful of stops nationwide and coming straight from Times Square, the “Road to Rio” tour will give “this community a taste of the Olympic Games, right here,” Knopp said.
“That’s what this is all about,” he said.
“We’ve reached this moment. I’ll tell you what it’s really all about is all the smiles you’re going to see next week.
“This is going to be the envy of cities across America. Nobody else has this.”