Heading down the river

Eric Johnson, Austin Daily Herald, Minn.
Updated ·1 min read

Mar. 28—Proposed whitewater park would be a first in Minnesota

With recent support from the Austin City Council, a largely citizen-driven effort is bringing the idea of a whitewater park to downtown Austin.

On March 20, the City Council approved $10,000 for a feasibility study — $5,000 from 2023 contingency and $5,000 from Parks, Recreation and Forestry's Capital Improvement. Those funds will be added to privately raised funds, including $5,000 from Hormel Food Corps..

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If the feasibility study shows the park is possible and the project goes forward, it would be the first of its kind in Minnesota and only one of a handful regionally including parks in Charles City and Manchester, Iowa.

The view of the dam from above with Cedar River running underneath Fourth Avenue. If the whitewater park gets green-lit, this is where the stretch would begin and would stretch to Oakland Avenue South. Photo by Paul Hunter, of the Cedar River Watershed District

"It's been a big and growing commitment to the point where we're starting to divide and conquer now," said Nathan Smit, who got the ball rolling with the idea during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's no longer us meeting and saying, 'how do we even get this money for the feasibility study?' How do we get the PR roll-out going?"

Smit said the idea came to him from the idea of finding something to do outdoors, which also led to the purchase of kayaks with his wife.