With two kayaking locations on the Cuyahoga River, Paddle The River is passionately committed to the future improvements planned for it. And there is no bigger project slated than the removal of the Gorge Dam in Cuyahoga Falls, which is the last large remaining obstacle to a free-flowing Cuyahoga River once more, more than a century after it was last fully open.
The well-known structure was built in 1914 to harness the power of the river in generating electricity as well as providing cooling for a nearby coal fired power station by Northern Tractor and Light, a predecessor company to today’s Ohio Edison. But the dam has far outlived the industrial operations was created to sustain – the hydroelectrical operations were closed down in 1958 and the power station last generated electricity in 1991, with its structures being finally removed over a decade ago in 2009.
Today only the dam itself remains – an impressive feat of concrete engineering that spans 400 feet across and is 60 feet tall. While hikers on the Gorge Metro Park admire the water cascading over it – and enjoy thrilling ice spectacles in the winter – the industrial remnant is also holding back a pollutant problem of an enormous size and stopping the river being returned to its natural state.
The dam holds behind it a massive reservoir which has also got a century’s worth of silt gathered at the bottom – and that silt includes many toxic materials that were casually dumped into the river before the Environmental protection Agency came into being in the middle of last century. But the big clean-up is on its way and funding is being put into place for the estimated $70 million cost of removing the dam and silt safely. And it will be worth the cost – not just in environmental terms. The project is expected to pay back economically to the area through increased tourism to see and enjoy the beauty of the restored Cuyahoga River, which was once the largest tourist destination in the Northeast Ohio due to its falls and gorges, currently lost out of sight under the reservoir.
Over the past two decades, many old and unwanted dams have already been successfully removed along the river and the water quality has returned to where it should be. Paddle The River exists because of the removal of dams, which has led to our stretch of the river becoming a nationally recognized kayaking destination for seasoned competitors and families enjoyed the river alike. And with the final – and largest – dam expected to be finally removed in the next couple of years, the possibilities for enjoying this river in all its former glory are huge.