LEBANON — Real estate agent Chip Brown said he remembers coming across an odd sight while walking through downtown Lebanon one winter day a few years ago.
“It’s February and snowing, 10 degrees, and there’s a guy running up Hanover Street in a dry suit and kayak,” Brown told the Lebanon Economic Development Commission during a meeting Wednesday.
“And he ran through the parking lot, jumped into the water — and the water’s in full flow — and went down Class V rapids,” he said.
That encounter, coupled with projects elsewhere in New Hampshire, has led Brown to suggest building a whitewater park in downtown Lebanon.
The park, which would be created by removing human-made debris from the Mascoma River and making slight alterations to improve its flow, is still in its “nascent” days, with stakeholders just starting to discuss the idea, Brown said.
But if they’re ultimately successful, improvements to the river could drive new traffic to Lebanon and its shops and restaurants, Brown told the commission.
“If you think about Lebanon, you’ve got this substantial river going through it and everybody faces away from it,” he said. “There’s no access to it, there’s no attention to it.”
It’s time to reverse that trend, he said, adding a park could get more people to pay attention to the Mascoma River, which was once the economic driver of Lebanon’s mills.
Brown said he partially got the idea of creating a whitewater park from a project in Franklin, N.H., that’s now underway.
The Lakes Region city broke ground in May on Mill City Park at Franklin Falls. Once complete, it will include whitewater features such as standing waves to paddle into and play areas in the Winnipesaukee River.
On the shore, the city of 8,600 also has plans to build walking and bike trails, camping sites and an amphitheater that officials hope will draw businesses and visitors to Franklin’s downtown.
Brown said Lebanon’s park doesn’t have to be nearly as large the one in Franklin, which is being funded with $2.5 million in grant money and private donations. It is expected to draw 162,000 visitors annually.
“More than anything, it’s cleaning up the river and getting citizens and public access back to the river,” he said.
People could access the park south of the Mascoma Street bridge and rapids there, where the water is calmer, Brown said, citing Logan Field off Water Street as a potential spot.
Brown, who is helping to sell the nearby former Kleen laundry plant on Mechanic Street to an undisclosed developer, said that property or a neighboring property might also serve as access sites.
Photographer and avid kayaker Nick Gottlieb said that section of the Mascoma would be best situated for a whitewater park, which usually includes an artificial standing wave.
Paddlers, and particularly those who are new to the sport, are much more comfortable spending an hour or so navigating through the feature than traversing the much more advanced rapids nearby, he said.
“Currently, the character of the Mascoma is for somewhat advanced paddlers only,” Gottlieb said of the stretches east of Mascoma Street.
“It also full of rebar, sharp stuff and concrete, which is not a great thing for kayaking.”
A stretch of the Mascoma farther east, near the Packard Hill Covered Bridge, has been used by Dartmouth College’s Ledyard Canoe Club for slalom races.
Bob Nasdor, the northeast stewardship director for the nonprofit American Whitewater, also pointed out that whitewater parks are more common in the western United States because dedicated funds and regulations encourage river recreation in places like Colorado.
New England, he said, also has to contend with seasonal flow issues. While rivers are fully flowing in the spring, he said, periods of dry weather and summer droughts that are becoming more common could hamper the development of more parks.
Still, Nasdor said, he’s in favor of anything that gets more people out on the water.
“There’s a lot of interest,” he said.
“I think there’s a tremendous amount of enthusiasm from the local community as well as the paddling community for what’s being done in Franklin.”
Brown, the real estate agent, acknowledged some of the challenges that could face a potential whitewater park during Wednesday’s meeting.
“Make no mistake: In Lebanon, there’s shoreline setbacks, there’s waterfront setbacks. If you’re dealing with the river, there’s a lot of environmental things that have to get addressed,” he said.
But if advocates were to move forward with the project, Brown said, “the river will be infinitely cleaner, and the waterfront will be infinitely cleaner.”
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.
Correction
Chip Brown, a commercial real estate broker and member of the Lebanon Economic Development Commission, last week proposed the concept of a whitewater park on the Mascoma River in downtown Lebanon. An earlier version of this story misstated the status of the idea.