Nathaniel and Starla LaMorde fish along the Wabash River’s east bank in Fairbanks Park early Wednesday morning. They arrived before sunrise but just started getting bites at daybreak. Tribune-Star/Mark Bennett
A lot has been done to help connect Terre Hauteans and visitors with the Wabash River.
Those accomplishments got a spotlight at the Wabash Valley Riverscape organization’s annual “Moonlight on the Wabash” dinner last week. That night’s Reliance Nation and John Watson epitomized the progress since Riverscape began 17 years ago. Nation, a longtime Riverscape board member, helped lead the group’s efforts to restore wetlands, add trails, open new river-oriented recreational outlets and broker a deal that turned the vacant Pillsbury factory into the RiverFront Lofts apartments now overlooking the east bank. Watson and his Indybased Core Redevelopment firm made the Lofts makeover happen.
Still, important, untapped possibilities remain. A gameplan unfolded earlier this year in the updated Riverfront Development Plan by a coalition of city, county and community entities, as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its first steps are brewing on multiple fronts.
One could especially “activate” the riverfront, its advocates say.
Imagine a boathouse near Fairbanks Park’s south side serving as hub for rowing, kayaking, canoeing and other paddle sports.
Among advocates of that idea is Mike Knopp, a key figure in helping Oklahoma City become the only event site outside of California for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. Oklahoma’s capital city will host six canoe slalom events in the 2028 Games, as well as the softball competition. Canoe slalom involves competitors paddling canoes around dozens of gates in a whitewater course, and vying for the fastest time.
Readers can be forgiven for thinking, “Wait, what? Watersports in the LA Olympics are happening in Oklahoma City?”
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Committee made that announcement last spring. It capped a two-decade effort by Oklahoma City to transform its portion of the Oklahoma River from a neglected “ditch” — dried out from flood-control changes — to an economic- development gem and Olympic site.
Knopp has made trips to Terre Haute to talk with riverfront development leaders, including attending last week’s “Moonlight on the Wabash.” Knopp believes Terre Haute already has advantages Oklahoma City lacked back when that southwestern city began the long process of “activating” its river.
“You have water,” Knopp said succinctly while sitting in Fairbanks Park along with Wabash Valley Crew co-founder Jim Owen and coach Caroline Adam, and Riverfront Development Director Lori Danielson. “You have land readily available. You have a community, and it’s been inspiring to see so many people engaged in what Lori [and riverfront supporters] are doing.”
By contrast, when Oklahoma City started revitalizing its waterway, “we would literally mow our river every summer,” Knopp said.
Twenty years later, developments along Oklahoma City’s riverfront total $100 million, anchored by its Boathouse District. And the Olympic Committee took notice.
Knopp, who founded Riversport OKC, now heads the Riversport America project that aims to bring similar revitalization to river cities across the country via smaller-scale boathouses. Its Boathouse in a Box initiative can place an “off-the-shelf” boathouse — complete with programming and staffing assistance, equipment and training expertise — into willing communities for under $500,000.
“We see the Boathouse in a Box as a way to help inspire engagement on the Wabash River,” Knopp said, noting that its purpose would extend beyond competitive rowing to include paddle sports and senior-citizen-friendly dragon boating. Just like Oklahoma City has done, but at a fraction of the cost.
The opportunity interests Terre Haute riverfront advocates.
“We want to be the pilot community in the Boathouse in a Box program,” Danielson said. “We want eyes on Terre Haute and west-central Indiana through this project.”
Owen paused, to hold his emotion, talking about the impact and potential of rowing on the Wabash, the crew program he helped launch with Jack Hill a decade ago and the young people who’ve participated. A boathouse can spark more progress for the entire riverfront effort, in his view.
“It brings focus to Terre Haute as a community for being first,” Owen said of its potential to also draw newcomers to the city. “They’re going to come and see our pilot program, if it’s done properly.”
Adam, the Wabash Valley Crew coach, grew up rowing and kayaking on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. She came to Terre Haute to study at Rose-Hulman, got involved with Wabash Valley Crew, graduated and left town. She came back two years ago, when her husband got a teaching job at Rose.
“This is our hometown now, and we want to build it up, raise our kids here and see the river develop,” Adam said.
Bald eagles often fly overhead as she and crew rowers are on the water. “It’s a great resource. It really is,” Adam said of the Wabash. “Every time I’m out there, I always wonder why more people aren’t out there, too. It’s so beautiful.”
A boathouse is central to growth in watersports accessibility, Owen said.
Of course, the scenic, possibility-filled section of the Wabash running through Terre Haute has issues to tackle.
One increasingly obvious problem is the erosion of the east bank through Fairbanks Park. A large sandbar extends almost halfway across the riverbed right now. While the extended dry spell through August and September has exposed the erosion, the problem lies beyond the water level.
“The river is not going lower,” said Brendan Kearns, a Wabash River enthusiast and conservationist. “It’s additional erosion. … What you’re seeing in the river is [sediment from] that bank as a result of many things.”
Rainfall has become more erratic, with extended dry periods sapping moisture that normally keeps the banks intact, Kearns explained. When rains come, they’re heavier and more intense, and the rising river becomes fast-moving, eroding the dried-out banks. Also, natural elements that stabilize the banks, like plants with long roots, have been choked out by vining species, making the banks even more vulnerable.
Kearns said a 1936 aerial photo of the river shows the extent of recent erosion. The east bank now goes deeper into Fairbanks Park.
“If we get two or three more 20-foot rivers, it would remarkably change what this looks like,” Kearns said, looking over the bank Thursday. Without stabilization, “the river will continue to go into Fairbanks Park.”
Kearns supports the updated Riverfront Development Plan, which includes an U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assessment of the banks’ stability.
“I feel good about the Riverfront Development [Plan], because it’s going to address an issue that’s apparent now,” he said.
Bank stabilization is a priority for the Riverfront Development coalition, Danielson said.
“It is a concern, no doubt. That is something that needs to be addressed,” Danielson said. “The ‘how’ has not been decided yet.”
Several aspects of the updated riverfront plan are currently in motion, Danielson explained.
• A proposed name change of portions of First Street and Prairieton Road to “Riverside Road” — from the intersection of North First Street and Maple Avenue, south to Prairieton Road and Margaret Avenue — goes before the Terre Haute City Council and Area Plan Commission early next month, she said. The aim is to bolster the riverfront’s identity with visitors.
• Discussion about potential development opportunities with owners of nearly 80 acres of property along the riverfront sector are in “various stages of negotiation to transfer properties to new owners,” Danielson said.
The former AmVets property on the river’s west side has been sold to the county, Danielson said. The county parks department will work on plans for uses and “activities to bring people — more families — to recreate there and at Wabashiki [Fish and Wildlife Area] and Bicentennial Park,” she added.
And significant steps are happening with the former Wabash Environmental Technologies property on South First Street. That 68-acre parcel is being tested to see if remediation is needed. “That’s really exciting,” Danielson said.
• A Riverfront Development Consortium of business owners is being assembled, she said, to spark commercial and residential development along the Wabash. The group will be similar to those in cities that have already developed riverfronts, like South Bend, Fort Wayne, Mishawaka and Evansville.
• A new event “on or around the waterfront” is brewing for 2026, Danielson said.
Meanwhile, the potential Boathouse in a Box for the Wabash could become a motivator for other progress.
“We’ve got a river,” Owen said. “Let’s utilize it.”
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