# Poudre Whitewater Park. The time is now!



## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Boaters,

The Fort Collins Whitewater Park is closer to reality than it has ever been. The time is now for us to unite and achieve this for the boating community as well as the citizens of Fort Collins. We need your help, here's how:

*1. There's a City Open House on September 5th at 5:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Center. Our park designer S2O designs will be on hand to present the park. We would love to cram this room full of people in show of support. You don't have to be a Fort Collins resident, just someone that's interested in a true whitewater park in Fort Collins. 
*
2. We need signatures to show the city that there is interest in this project from the public. This past weekend we had a booth at the New West Fest and gathered over 1000 signatures. You can sign this online now at our website. You can sign up and simply say that you like the idea, we won't spam you. Or there are other options if you want to receive updates on events, help us out, or donate to the cause. 

3. Get the word out on Facebook, Twitter, email, or however you choose to social network. Here's a link to the Poudre Whitewater Park Flyer as well as the Poudre Whitewater Park QR Code. 









4. Contact your City Council member if you live in Fort Collins. Don't know who your City Council member is? 
-- Here's a list of current members
-- How to find your district

Again, please come to the open house if you have any interest in having a great park in the Choice City. Your presence at the meeting will show our City Council that a Whitewater Park is a win/win for both the City and whitewater enthusiasts alike. 

Visit our website at Poudre Whitewater Park 

Contact Us


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Can someone sticky this thread for us? 

Meeting is two weeks from today!


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## kayakfreakus (Mar 3, 2006)

Signed, hope it gets the backing it needs this time


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

The Poudre Whitewater Park city open house is one week from tomorrow. Please join us at the Lincoln Center next Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.


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## co_bjread (Oct 26, 2004)

Is there any problem with getting your name on too many lists? I signed the informal one at the lincoln center maybe a month ago and recently sent an email to the mayor and my city council rep. If I sign up on this list too, do I run the risk of having my name in too many places and possibly having them rejected for that? I have heard of stuff like that with petitions.


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Technically, this isn't a petition. It's only a sign of interest to show the City of Fort Collins that we have many people, not just Fort Collins residents that are excited about a whitewater park in town. The park will bring a substantial amount of tax dollars to the city and the more interest we show, the better the idea looks to our City Counsel members. 

Its also a way for you to hear from us (or not...), join us, or be a future donor to project.


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## Nathan (Aug 7, 2004)

Is the meeting on September 5th?

Yesterday you said a week from today, but that would be the 3rd.


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Sorry if I wasn't clear! I see I typed Tuesday... it's Thursday.

*SEPT 5th at 5:00 PM.*


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

*Article in the Coloradoan this morning about a playpark in Fort Collin*

This was published in yesterday's Fort Collins Coloradoan.

Clark: Fort Collins whitewater park an idea worth exploring


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## johng (Apr 25, 2005)

Great article promoting a whitewater park. Lots of support for a whitewater feature but we can't have too much.

It's really important to have a strong turnout next Thursday for the presentation by S20 on the park. It's 5-6 pm in the Founders Room, Lincoln Center. This is a presentation so please arrive by 5 if you can.

Visit the web site - Poudre Whitewater Park - show up for the presentation, join in the after party, and write to Ft Collins City Council and tell them you want a park, and want it in the 2014 construction plan. We've been working on this for nearly two decades, and the TIME IS NOW!


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## Buckrodgers (Feb 28, 2007)

and the TIME IS NOW![/QUOTE]

NOW NOW NOW!! Show up next Thursday everyone, then celebrate showing your support by watching the Broncos crush Joe Flacco on opening night.


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## mattoak (Apr 29, 2013)

2 questions. 

Is the poudre river construction going to last throughout the 2014 summer?

If the WW park happens, when is the estimated completion date?


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## johng (Apr 25, 2005)

When will it begin/be done? This depends on YOU!! 

We need a strong showing, telling the City Council (1) we want a play park, and (2) we want construction in 2014.

The TIME IS NOW! 

The final decisions are being made between today and October 8th. This is not a drill!! If you don't do something to support this in the next five week, don't be bitching that we don't have a park.

The TIME IS NOW!! Be there next Thursday, 5 pm, Lincoln Center.


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## jtnc (Aug 9, 2004)

Another ping as a reminder of the meeting at Lincoln center at 5pm this Thursday. The more folks that are there to show support of the park proposal the better chance we have of getting it. Yeah it is at 5pm, which is not ideal from a general work schedule, but try to make it if you can.

Whether you can or not, drum up support for it and see if you can get others to join Thursday too. Boater or non boaters, whomever would like a play park should show up!

John


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## lmyers (Jun 10, 2008)

Sorry I didn't see this earlier to "stick" it.... good luck guys, a whitewater park would be a fabulous addition to Ft. Collins and the Poudre River.


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

*Event Reminder: This Thursday at 5:00 p.m !*

Reminder that this week is the most important show of support you can give for the Poudre Whitewater Park. Packing this room full of boaters and non-boaters showing support for this venture is crucial to the success of the project. 

This isn't some boring meeting either, we will actually get a glimpse of what the park will look like. Unlike the last get together at the Lincoln Center, 5:00 to 6:00 is devoted to the whitewater park. 

Thursday September 5th 
5:00 - 6:00 p.m. 

Lincoln Center 
417 W Magnolia St
Fort Collins, CO 80521


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

*Tonight! 5:00 at the Lincoln Center!*

Please join us tonight at the Lincoln Center to show your support for a world class whitewater park in Fort Collins. The time to get this done is now. With all of the river improvements being planned for the coming years (River Projects: City of Fort Collins), this project will be essentially free to complete. All we need to do is convince City Council that this is something for boaters and non-boaters alike to enjoy for years to come. 

* Let's do this. Get 'er done. Finish this 20 year dream.*

If there is one thing that you do to show your support for this project, come to the Lincoln Center tonight at 5:00 p.m.


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## johng (Apr 25, 2005)

Great showing yesterday evening - thanks to all that participated! We filled the room, not even standing room for the crowd out the door. I counted more than 100 in the room, and I heard a more accurate count was ~175.

Scott Shipley was the lead presenter, and he did a great job putting the park in the context of the much larger project, with joint goals for river restoration/ecology, recreation, and flood management. He identified three potential locations for whitewater features, and reviewed the merits of each site. Scott and city staff outlined the (much too long ...) planning and review process.

John Stokes said the next key activity is his staff providing City Council with the information package for the October 8th work session. Stokes' staff will present this in about _two weeks_. We want to be sure the whitewater features are a core part of the package and they are used to address the recreation goal. This is a great time to write to City Council members and express your support. We're being heard - the strong turnout last night was a huge vote. 

See the first post in this thread for links to city council and the Whitewater park web site. The Whitewater park web site includes talking points and other info that can help you craft a letter. This isn't an election - you can write as many letters as you want!

Again, super turnout and we're doing a great job. Let's keep up the good work! Hopefully others will provide more details but I wanted all to know that we really came to the table for this.


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Nicely done Buzzards. This was a great showing, I'm glad the fire marshal wasn't in attendance. 

Thanks again for the strong showing, more details coming soon.


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Here's an opinion piece I submitted to the Coloradoan newspaper regarding the park.


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrh3fDyBaW0

Posted in the newer thread as well. Here's the September 5th meeting in case you missed it.


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

*Whitewater Park Update*

Quick update on the Whitewater Park in Fort Collins. 

Relations with City Council and other organizations continue to get stronger as time passes. We had a very well received City Council work session on October 8th where the River Projects (River Projects: City of Fort Collins) were discussed. This was broadcast on the City's cable TV channel as well. The Whitewater Park came up a number of times and appears to be well received. There were certainly some concerns from a few Council members, and we are trying our best to address them quickly and personally. 

The next step is a presentation to the Downtown Development Association in a few weeks time. I'll update again after that.

If you have any questions or want to be more involved, send me a message or email me at denalijb @ gmail. 

Jeff


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Another update. 

Today we met with the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority board. We gave them a very brief update on where the project is and what we're trying to accomplish. They were more than supportive and agreed to write a letter of support to the City of Fort Collins about the whitewater park.

A little history on the DDA and whitewater parks on the Poudre:

In February 2005 and in April 2006 the DDA Board authorized a grant of DDA funds to help fund the design and construction of the park. Some of the money was released for the design, but the construction piece is still intact and ready to go to the City to help with construction costs. 


In brief, they were already on board but keeping those funds available to the project is something we are truly thankful for. 

Jeff


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

*Poudre Whitewater Park Update*

This is an email update I sent out to our volunteer staff regarding a meeting with the City we had this week. If you're confused about anything, feel free to contact me. I refer to Site 3 below, this is the best of the 3 possible sites along the river that were selected. This is just east of the College Ave bridge.

*******


All,

Ben Loeffler, Mike Pagel, Greg Speers and I met with John Stokes and some members of the engineering side of the project regarding the whitewater park yesterday. Overall, the feeling was really positive. 

A few issues were perceived as show stoppers over the past few weeks. Most of these have been addressed and we're proceeding with the plan!

1. Geological issues regarding the low bedrock in the area. Most of the concern is how much bedrock would need to be removed for the deep pools below the features. However, Andersen Consulting believes we might get "lucky" after doing some testing of the area and didn't seem too concerned.

2. Pollution issues below the railroad bridge. There was a concern that the "plume" of napl coal tar that was found in 2003 and mitigated in 2005 would have possibly migrated upstream. It is the opinion of Welsh Environmental after tests that this is NOT the case and that the mitigation fence was doing its job. This is fantastic news, this could have put a very quick end to Site 3 or the approval of a park from Council all-together. 

3. Water-right/ownership issues with the existing Coy ditch. The City of Fort Collins owns 50% of the water rights to the Coy ditch, the other major stake holder is ELCO, or Eastern Larimer County Water District. The ditch is no longer used for irrigation, however it is unknown who owns the land under the ditch itself. They're getting a meeting together to discuss this with ELCO. The feeling is positive that they can work this out but there wasn't much of an update. 


For the entire Poudre River Projects project, there are 3 sets of improvements we discussed. The Coy ditch area is a priority and they are planning on spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $6m to revive this area, including the addition of WWP features and fishing pools. More on the funding aspect later...

It is broadly accepted within the staff of the project that Site 3 as S2O presented (Coy ditch/below College Bridge) is the most desirable area to build a whitewater park. In addition to the superior drop the area has, its not exactly a 'natural' area currently. Any improvements to this section of the river will most likely be popular with the public and Council. Also of concern, the ditch provides little to no fish passage currently and must be modified or removed. And finally the ditch currently poses a flood impact to the College bridge as we saw in the floods this past September. All of these current factors are in our corner. 

The other areas that weren't really discussed in great detail are the area near Lee Martinez which includes the Lake canal structure, and finally the section of river between Lincoln and Linden streets. John mentioned he would like to see a habitat project put in this area. In our discussions we focused on boaters being able to access the entire stretch of the river between Overland and Mulberry and there was some discussion on additional put-in and takeout opportunities. John really likes the idea of being able to boat the entire section between Overland and Mulberry. Maybe more on this in later meetings.

The site plan (certainly not final) includes 4 features. Whether those are all boating features is sort of up in the air currently. We'll work with them to get as many kayak-able features as possible. Keeping that in mind, we are confident there will be at least 2. They would like to stay quite some distance from the rail bridge as this is near the environmentally sensitive area. They're envisioning a pedestrian bridge just upstream of the rail bridge where people could cross the river and watch kayakers play. 

Finally we discussed a rough schedule of events before the project could be completed. Most of the dates depend on budgeting and funding. The more aggressive we get with funding, the more action we will see.

January - Another Open House is planned sometime early in the month. While we probably don't have to beg for a whitewater park, we need to show our support at all of these events. We will need to motivate the troops for each event. Buzzards, we need you there!

February - Budgeting activities go to Boards and Commissions. John wants to seek other sources than the "Build On Basics" or BOB funding initiative. As this project will be competing with millions of dollars that other projects will be asking for. John believes there are many other sources of funding for this project as well, but as previously mentioned the more aggressive we get in funding the less time delay we will see.

March/April - Draft of the master plan for the entire Poudre River Projects should be completed. Soon after there will be another work session with Council similar to the October session just passed to discuss the plan and get input. This is likely the time-frame when we will begin our fund raising efforts. These funds will fill in the gaps for the Whitewater side of the project.

May - Budget is due in the City Managers hands. In addition another Open House will be held after the input/changes from the work session. Buzzards are needed at this event as well, the more support we show, the faster we will see a park built and the more funding it will receive. 

June'ish - Finalized plan of the Poudre River Projects (entire project between Overland and Mulberry)

Assuming funding is in order, there are no major hiccups we could see construction begin in the late fall of 2015 carrying into 2016. Hopefully that means we're boating in the spring of 2016.

Sorry so long winded, but I'm fired up. Lets do this.

Jeff


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Do you want a playpark in Fort Collins? Pack the house! Please attend...

What: Fort Collins Downtown River Project Open House
Where: The Lincoln Center 
417 W Magnolia St, Fort Collins, CO 80521
(970) 221-6735
When: Thursday, February 27th, 2014, any time between 5:30-7:30

So much progress has been made on this project! I think we're actually going to have a true whitewater park in FoCo as soon as 2016. The whitewater park is officially a piece of the Preliminary Master Plan of the Downtown River Project.

We need to make sure the Downtown River Project and whitewater park passes the vote at City Council this May. We need to show council how important this is to our community. The best way to do that is to attend the City Open House events for this project. While you're there you will get to see what the City has planned for the potential Whitewater Park as well as the rest of the downtown river corridor restoration. Most importantly, give your feedback on the Preliminary Master Plan of the project. 

We want to pack this room full of river enthusiasts. Most City Council members will be present at the event, they are always looking to see how much interest there is from their constituents. If you don't know who your Council representative is:

Here is a district map to find out which district you reside in: District boundaries: elections: City of Fort Collins

Once you've found your district, you're representative will be pictured here: City Leadership: City of Fort Collins

If there is one thing that you do to help the effort to get a whitewater park in Fort Collins, please join us!



Thank you for your support!


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## RiverWrangler (Oct 14, 2003)

*REMINDER*

This is coming up this Thursday! We need to pack the house AGAIN and make sure the community and local officials know we are serious about this park and that we will not stop until it is a DONE DEAL!

Thanks


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

*Great turnout, thank you!*

Thanks to all who attended last night, if you weren't able to join us last night, please see the City's new updated documents including renderings of a potential whitewater park here: Poudre River Downtown Project: City of Fort Collins

Please submit a comment after reviewing all of the posters. There's some really neat things planned for this project, and they would love to hear what you have to say.

Poudre-Downtown Comment Form


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## mattoak (Apr 29, 2013)

I work at the powerhouse energy institute...the old CSU engines and energy conversion lab. This would be so sweet. Lunchtime play sessions! oh man


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Certainly a prime location for your lunch hour!


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## Don (Oct 16, 2003)

*Iowa WWPP*

Show then this: Elkader Opens White Water Park | KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

City Council Work session on the Playpark and the rest of the Poudre Downtown project. 

Wednesday, July 8th, 6-8 PM
City Hall
300 Laporte Ave
Fort Collins, CO
(970) 221-6520

Attend if you would like, however, there is no comment allowed from the public. Here is the latest Master Plan from John Stokes. 

The Agenda for the meeting tonight can be found here


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## mrkyak (Jul 11, 2005)

When it's the right time for a fund raiser let me know and we'll see what we can do to help. Stage in my front yard, 10 mins from Old Town.


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

*Park is approved, now its time to fund it*

All,

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past few months. If you haven't heard the Poudre Downtown Project Reach 3 passed with an overwhelming success of 6-0 in Fort Collins City Council. Now that the work to get the park approved has been done, it's time to fund it. 

I'll post another thread separate to funding, but as of today we have almost $300,000 of the $1,000,000 raised for the project. We're officially starting a crowdfunding campaign starting today. We've partnered with the Northern Colorado Community Foundation and are now accepting online donations here: https://www.coloradogives.org/NoCoGives/index.php?section=organizations&action=newDonationToFundraiser&fwID=7582

The city's downtown Master Plan has been accepted, you can check out the latest and greatest pictures here: Poudre River Downtown Project: City of Fort Collins


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## jtnc (Aug 9, 2004)

Hey all, just a bump as a reminder that today is Colorado Gives Day. Donations to the Poudre Whitewater Park today (Tuesday December 9th) via: https://www.coloradogives.org/NoCoGi...iser&fwID=7582 Will benefit from the Colorado Gives Day statewide $1 million incentive fund. But, if you miss December 9th, please go ahead and donate anyways! Any amount will help, be it large or small. Thanks


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

*Fort Collins Residents, please get out and Vote for the Poudre Whitewater Park*

Please vote by mail this week (no stamp needed) to support our community leaders who see the value of a whitewater park in downtown Fort Collins and Bob 2. As you may gather from it taking 20 years to get to this point, there are/have been very powerful people in our city that don't share this view. This year more than ever it's imperative that we unite as a group to show major support for those who not only support this project but advocate for it. Please encourage your friends, families and co-workers to vote to support Gerry Horak, Wade Troxell and the building on basics tax initiative (ballot issue 1-yes) If this doesn't pass the whitewater park will most likely not happen. Both Wade and Gerry personally made sure we were given a fair shot after being thwarted for 20 years on this project. Send them a letter of support personally and consider giving their campaigns a last minute donation. Please mail in you ballot today.


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## BrianK (Feb 3, 2005)

BOB 2.0 passed with overwhelming support! Thanks to those that voted.


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## Nathan (Aug 7, 2004)

Great news!


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

Great news! I'll keep this thread updated as I hear more.


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## jeffy (Sep 17, 2004)

*Poudre Whitewater Park in the news today*

Front page news today, Whitewater parks bring big money, but will Poudre flow?


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