Hotel and cable park at Nichols Boat Basin

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Beats putting a faux Disneyland at the Hatchery, as was seriously considered over the last couple of years.

Mike \m/

SlightlySalty · Joined: 19 Jul 2008 Posts: 92

Well, I for one think the cable park is totally lame. It might be fun in Iowa or something but around here there are WAAYY too many other things on any given day that I'd rather do.
Great spot for a Hotel but I don't expect the cable park to add much to their business plan.
I would never come to the Gorge for a cable park. Seriously folks, might be fun for a couple of runs but overall I think I'd rather pick huckle berries on a hot August day...
Build it and they will come....I highly doubt it. Rolling Eyes

They will come for other reasons though.

starfish · Joined: 14 Apr 1996 Posts: 202

How about it, is it going to bring decent paying jobs to hood river? I don't mean ten dollars a hour. Will there being living wages? If there was well paying jobs then you might get more local support.

kmf · Joined: 02 Apr 2001 Posts: 503

On any windless day there are lots of people who choose to water ski or wake board here in the Hood River area. I suspect that a cable park will be welcome by those who would like to do it, but either can't afford to own a boat or don't have the three people to make the ski trip legal that day. Also the cable park will offer smooth water to play in even if it is windy.
Actually the park might just be a great idea for Hood River. Believe it or not, there are lots of people here who do not windsurf, but still play in the river

KMF.

kmf · Joined: 02 Apr 2001 Posts: 503

On any windless day there are lots of people who choose to water ski or wake board here in the Hood River area. I suspect that a cable park will be welcome by those who would like to do it, but either can't afford to own a boat or don't have the three people to make the ski trip legal that day. Also the cable park will offer smooth water to play in even if it is windy.
Actually the park might just be a great idea for Hood River. Believe it or not, there are lots of people here who do not windsurf, but still play in the river

KMF.

CUSalin · Joined: 11 Mar 2001 Posts: 405 Location: Hood River, OR

Waterlou · Joined: 04 May 2004 Posts: 35

1. Cableboarding is not kiteboarding from a cable instead of a kite. It is wakeboarding without a boat.
(In case anyone is confused, waterboarding is an entirely different sport enjoyed by Dick Cheney & his friends who are afraid to go hunting with him.)

2. The little pond in front of the old Nichols Boat Basin is not large enough for this. Will it be enlarged? The pond is now a really great place for learning SUP's, which I regularly see it being used for. It's a great spot for this - Parents at the little restaurant drinking beer and eating tacos, kids getting exercise where they are safe. No dredging, no old copper bottom paint going into our river, etc. The sediment there must be totally contaminated.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

How many palms must a developer grease to get a permit to install a cable park in the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area, where homeowners, by law, cannot trim their own trees or paint their homes a non-approved pastel color? Shameful ... and maybe overly optimistic of the developer in this economy, let alone the one we're heading into.

Mike \m/

rockcreek · Joined: 23 May 2001 Posts: 9

Inside an incorporated area does not trigger those requirements.

bjamin · Joined: 19 Jul 2000 Posts: 57

I was going to say - this is not in the scenic area, not even close. It's in the middle of HR port land (which is all fill BTW, nothing natural), on a site that was the long abandoned Nichols boat works. The site is an eyesore at the moment. A hotel/restaurant would bound to be an improvement, especially if they landscape with native species as recommended. As for the cable pull going in over the nichols bay - since it's an electric motor it would be a lot quieter then any boat or jet ski and more energy efficient (compared to the same # of folks on a boat pulling wake boarders). Plus there's a study that shows a cable pull helps to oxygenate stagnant water and improve the environment for fish. And there's the jobs and boost to the local economy. Plus the land is already sold and zoned for this type of use (meaning something is going in there sooner or later, better this then another McDonalds or DQ). And it sounds like fun for those light wind hot days (like right now). All in all, seems reasonable IMO.