City considering removal of low dam to allow for safer kayaking, canoeing

River advocates and development groups are meeting Wednesday, June 30, to look at concepts for recreational activities on area rivers. One concept is the elimination of the Monument Avenue low dam to make the Great Miami River through downtown Dayton safer for recreational use.

Chris Stewart/Staff Photogragher River advocates and development groups are meeting Wednesday, June 30, to look at concepts for recreational activities on area rivers. One concept is the elimination of the Monument Avenue low dam to make the Great Miami River through downtown Dayton safer for recreational use.

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Melinda Batten, right, of Middletown and Jamar Bean of Dayton watch water rush over the Monument Avenue low dam during an afternoon walk in Dayton on Monday, June 28. Advocates and developers are considering concepts for recreational activities on area rivers.

Chris Stewart/Staff Photogragher Melinda Batten, right, of Middletown and Jamar Bean of Dayton watch water rush over the Monument Avenue low dam during an afternoon walk in Dayton on Monday, June 28. Advocates and developers are considering concepts for recreational activities on area rivers.

By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer Updated 2:04 PM Wednesday, June 30, 2010

DAYTON — Advocates are moving on two fronts to create more recreational activity in the Mad and Great Miami rivers and enhance downtown as a regional destination.

Some renderings, which show bird’s-eye views of the Great Miami downtown reshaped into a series of pool-like areas, are available at the Downtown Dayton Partnership website at downtown-dayton.com. To do this, the Monument Avenue low dam could be removed.

Alex Taylor, Cox Media Group vice president, is the partnership’s private sector leader for outdoor recreation. He’s also on the board of American Rivers, a nonprofit that advocates for restoring natural river flows.

“The low dam should be removed and replaced by a more natural structure that would open the river up to safe kayaking, canoeing and fishing,” he said. “It could also become a far more attractive area that brings people together in the heart of the city — along the banks of the Great Miami River.”

At a closed-door meeting scheduled for today, June 30, major players will review preliminary concept sketches and early cost estimates. No major announcements are expected to immediately follow, said Mike Ervin, co-chair of the Greater Dayton Downtown Plan.

Key players include the city of Dayton, Montgomery County, the Miami Conservancy District, Five Rivers MetroParks, the Downtown Dayton Partnership and the University of Dayton.

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