Open Letter to the Park Board and Crown Hydro
By Arlene Fried read during Open Time on 3-21-07
It is my understanding that, if Crown Hydro is allowed to build and operate a hydro-power plant that will divert water from St. Anthony Falls, there will be only a thin sheet of water--or even NO water at all--going over the Falls.
In other words, when Crown Hydro is diverting water from the Falls, there will be times when the falling water will be reduced to a trickle.
Because tourists and sightseers come to the river front and the Stone Arch Bridge expecting to experience the beauty and the power of the Falls, how will Crown Hydro communicate to all of the tourists and sightseers that there will be certain times when the Falls will not be very spectacular? In fact , there will be times when the historic St. Anthony Falls will be quite pathetic looking.
Will Crown Hydro install advisory signs at each end of the Stone Arch Bridge warning tourists that, because of Crown Hydro there are now special viewing hours for the Falls? And will Crown Hydro notify the Tourist Bureau and other interested agencies of these new viewing hours?
I think that before the Park Board votes on this issue, everyone needs to realize that any further diversion of water from the falls for Crown Hydro's power plant has the potential to destroy the Falls as the centerpiece of the St. Anthony Falls Historic District and as a major tourist attraction.
Is transforming a significant historic landmark into an unattractive eyesore the legacy that this Board want s to be known for? Do you want to be known as the Board that killed the Falls?