On Saturday afternoon as the Riverwalk Market Fair was closing up, John Thomas (AKA Mr. JST Technology) alerted me to a Great Blue Heron that was perched on the top of the Ames Mill dam. After a few minutes, a Mallard joined it. It’s moments like that that make most Northfielders love that dam and the visually pleasing pool of Cannon River water behind it. But it could be much more.
There’s a resurgence of interest in planning for the Cannon River as it flows through downtown Northfield, especially if the dam is removed. See the discussion attached to my 2007 blog post: Tear down the Ames Mill dam. And the Sept 2011 PRAB minutes included this:
Council Member Suzie Nakasian reported. The City of Reno Nevada was chosen as an example of how to maximize the river corridor in a city. The planning was done around the river, recreation, economic development, and flood mitigation. A slide show presentation showed the reconstruction of the river to an Olympic class kayak run. She presented this to the PRAB to inspire creativity and thinking of the Cannon River as a park. To create a corridor along the river as parkland.
I was at that PRAB meeting and saw Suzie’s slideshow. It’s pretty cool what they’ve done along the Truckee River in Reno. See the Reno Riverwalk District, the Truckee River Whitewater Park, the Reno River Festival and the Downtown Makeover page on Reno.
Imagine something like this (smaller, of course) in downtown Northfield:
httpv://youtu.be/6Sg4XKsc3Eo
I love the photo of all of the people using the river. What might that be like in Northfield? What business opportunities might arise because of a change in the dam?
You mean Suzie doesn’t want to replace the dam with a giant latté machine?
Megan, I think the new downtown store, Gear ReSource, might benefit. The Nfld News article on the new store says: