Curwensville- “We want to see [this] go forward.”
Those were the words of Hildred Rowles, chairman of the Curwensville Regional Development Corporation at Wednesday’s town hall meeting regarding the construction of a whitewater recreation area at the location of the breached dam at the Pee Wee’s Nest, Irvin Park Curwensville.
The meeting was hosted by Clearly Ahead Development at the Curwensville Area Junior-Senior High School auditorium to update the public about the project and to receive feedback and answer questions. And while there were concerns raised, most of those present seemed enthusiastic about something new and fun coming to the region.
Rowles briefly spoke at the end of the meeting stating that the funding is available through Lumber Heritage, Susquehanna Greenways, the corporation, the borough and from residents who want to see this happen.
Clearly Ahead’s CEO, Rob Swales opened the meeting and explained that they began the process in 2022 and Curwensville borough expressed interest in October 2023 and they have continued to offer olive branches to both Curwensville and Clearfield, though Curwensville has recently been more responsive.
The engineering firms for the project are Calibre (formerly S2O) Engineering of Colorado, who have worked on over 40 such parks around the world, and Stahl Shaeffer Engineering of Clearfield, who have been helping with the permitting processes.
Riley Adams of Calibre talked about the timeline, objectives, design examples and planned improvements.
The project began with site visits. Adams said they looked at the West Branch of the Susquehanna River from Curwensville to Shawville, and the three sites considered were at Irvin Park, the Raftsman’s Dam in Clearfield and the dam at the Shawville Power Plant.
GenOn is currently in the process of removing the dam in Shawville.
The advantage of the site in Clearfield is that the elevation drop is good for three waves, whereas the one in Curwensville will allow for one good wave.
In 2024 Clearly Ahead began working with the community and looking for funding and in January the project kicked off officially.
Calibre has been working with a fish ecologist to ensure improvement to habitats in the river in Curwensville. Currently the dam prevents passage of fish along the river.
Other objectives include eliminating a safety risk in the breached dam and preserving history and restoring navigation.
Adams said the site will have access for disabled and will increase recreation opportunities with a positive economic impact for secondary businesses. He noted areas that have such parks have held festivals, competitions for water sports and other events.
The current plan calls for a split channel with an island in the middle of the stream and the wave portion on the side of the park while the gentler “ripple” navigable portion on the opposite side towards Bloomington.
Adams and his colleague Scott Shipley fielded many questions from the audience of approximately 50 people. One of the first concerns was regarding safety.
Both men noted that such parks on rivers do pose risk and they suggest signs be erected telling people they are there at their own risk and should utilize safety gear such as personal flotation devices, helmets, footwear, etc. But they also said there haven’t been incidents of drowning.
The park will also include a pool at the upstream and downstream sections of the wave where, if someone falls into the wave, they will come into the pool and be able to easily get to shore.
They also said that use will depend on water flow, but they anticipate people using the area most of the year with different things happening depending on the amount of water, and they intend on returning upstream water levels to those seen prior to the breach.
Shelby said areas with parks have seen a $3-4 million impact with visitors not only coming to the park but also going to restaurants, stores, hotels, etc. There will also be opportunity for new businesses outfitting people for kayaking, fishing, swimming and so on.
There were also questions about the proposed project in Clearfield which has been stalled and Swales said that despite the borough saying they didn’t have the funding, Clearly Ahead has been able to get nearly all the funding needed through grants and other sources, but Clearfield still rejected the plan due to costs.
He said he didn’t want to talk about Clearfield at that point, since the meeting was about Curwensville, but Clearly Ahead will be holding a town hall in Clearfield soon to gauge interest and inform the public about the possibilities.
