NCC Completes Landscaping - 30 March, 2007

Here are a few photos of the excellent job that was done last fall by the NCC:

New access to the river for paddlers

New picnic shelter

Landscaping at the wall

New public outhouse

Champlain - Bate’s Island: Update 19 March, 2006 

The rapids at Champlain Bridge continue to attract play boaters as usual, but this year, there will be some changes. The NCC has finally started on the shore stabilization project. A number of local paddlers, including representatives from the ORR, met with the NCC project engineer last November at the site, and re-iterated the wishes of the paddlers regarding the paddling site.  

Our concerns that we expressed were: how will the shore stabilization affect the rapids (the eddy, the wave formation, etc.); and will paddlers have access to the river?

As it turns out, the way the shore has been fortified is actually very close to what the paddlers had hoped for. The NCC dumped loads of a mixture of rip-rap and larger stones against the crumbling shore, starting at the upstream edge of the wall right up to the bridge. The slope of the fill is about 40 degrees at the wall, and gradually flattens to about 20 degrees near the bridge. 

The fill that was dumped against the shore near the wall actually extends out into the river by some 15 feet, restoring in a way what had originally been washed away prior to the construction of the new wall. Thus the conditions for the restoration of the original hydraulics have been restored, more or less. The final proof will appear when the water reaches its higher levels later in the spring. 

Regarding access to the river, we will have to wait. The NCC is planning to landscape the entire site, and this will include the erection of a four foot high chain link fence most of the way up the river shore, from the wall towards the bridge. The landscaping will not start until May at the earliest, so until then there is no “official” access to the water. The snow fence that is there now (about 30’ – 40’ from the water) will remain in place until then. Paddlers, in the meantime, will have to put in above the construction area, near the bridge (of course, in high water, boaters put in at the bottom end of the wall and paddle up to the waves). 

The NCC plans to assess the best location for upstream access when the water is low, perhaps at the middle or end of the coming summer. Then they plan to provide some sort of entry to the water, but it will be located a little further upstream from where we had hoped, at a location where there is no need for a fence and where the water is shallow. The NCC is concerned about public safety, and this would be an acceptable compromise all around.

...the restaurant's gone!

CHAMPLAIN – BATE’S ISLAND  SHORE STABILIZATION PROJECT  30 March, 2005 

After postponing it for a couple of years, NCC is now poised to resume the project. Funding appears to have been put in place, and work could start as early as the fall of 2005. Between now and then, a number of options will still have to be worked out. The ORR Club’s readiness to provide input into the shore stabilization aspects (both engineering and landscaping) has been communicated to NCC staff again. 

 The Club presented a detailed summary of our concerns and suggestion to the NCC, in November 2002. The paper concluded: “The National Capital Region is blessed by nature with many outdoor recreational and sports options. The white water sites are just as excellent and well known as are the cross country skiing and the mountain biking venues, to mention only a few. There are very few large urban areas anywhere else that can offer such an abundance of easily-accessible, high-quality outdoor facilities. This project offers a real option to restore and, perhaps, enhance one of the finest urban kayak facilities. The paddlers of the region, as the main users of the Bate’s Island rapids, look forward to contribute to the planning process.”  

See complete (updated) ORR position paper which we sent to the NCC.

Also: various shore stabilization materials we looked at.

 CHAMPLAIN – BATE’S ISLAND, POTENTIAL USES OF THE OLD RESTAURANT   30 March, 2005 

NCC staff are distinctly interested in receiving suggestions from us as to the potential future uses of the building. They might be interested in retaining at least part of the structure, and re-establish it for some useful service to the public, consistent with the overall use of the park. 

Back in 2002, some paddlers suggested that the building be converted into a paddlers’ Club house, with boat storage, showers and toilets, meeting rooms, and common area with some kitchen facilities. That, of course, was a bit of a pipe dream, as there exists no Club or organization that could look after maintaining such a facility.

 An alternative to this model was also floated at the time, which tried to address the cost of maintenance aspect. This would have involved offering rental space to a number of interested out-door equipment retailers, outfitters, adventure schools, kayak schools, etc. within the building. The argument was made that the location would lend itself to such things as boat testing, teaching, preparation for outings, outdoor retail boutiques, etc. The rental income would be sufficient to pay for the maintenance of the building, and for carrying the cost of at least some facilities for paddlers such as washrooms, meeting rooms, lounge, perhaps also some boat storage for an extra fee, etc.  

If anyone out there is interested to work out some options along these lines so that we can submit them to the NCC, please get back to the Club, preferably within the next couple of weeks!  

PROBLEMS AT CHAMPLAIN PUT-IN  by Tyler Lawlor 30 March, 2005

There have been recent complaints about erosion at the put-in.