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St. Charles backs study of rafting, fountains for Fox River

City officials give early OK to study rafting, fountains for area

St. Charles Active River Task Force members received praise and tentative financial support Monday night to study white water rafting, kayaking, fountains, floating botanical gardens for the city's portion of the Fox River.

Aldermen tentatively approved $20,000 to help the task force hire consultants to evaluate the costs and potential profits of about eight ideas to make the river a featured part of the downtown. The group has already received about $66,000 of funding from Kane County and the local River Corridor Foundation.

The task force hopes to add another $20,000 from the St. Charles Park District later this week. The would give the group about $100,000 to narrow the focus of the potential river uses.

"We don't have any plans for anything at this point other than to see what we can do to leverage the river," said John Rabchuk, a spokesman for the task force.

That said, the group did create a video envisioning a number of changes on the river.

Perhaps the most noticeable change involves replacing the current river dam at Main Street with a series of 2-foot dams that would make the river safer for rafting and kayaking. There are also depictions of creating a dedicated path for walkers, runners and bikers to maneuver along the river without the hazard of having to interact with vehicle traffic.

Rabchuk said the idea is to make the river a tourist destination the way it used to be before the water quality of the river declined and other attractions made the river less of a draw. The group is relying on success stories in other states to generate ideas.

Rabchuk pointed to a much larger active river project in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that cost $27 million to create but now pulls in $20 million to the city's economy each year.

Aldermen spoke highly of the vision but also pointed out the long road to realizing any of the goals. For instance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Illinois Department of Natural Resources must sign off on any changes to the shoreline or actual construction on the river.

"They've been supportive so far," Rabchuk said.

The full city council must take a final vote to release the funds. Once all the money is in hand, Rabchuk expects to engage consultants in the winter and host focus groups in the spring.

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