The Whitewater Center: An Olympic Dream Made Real on the Catawba
Near Charlotte, North Carolina
In two thousand one, founder Vic Howie sketched out an idea on paper: a world-class whitewater facility on the Catawba River west of Charlotte. The original vision is said to have been to support Charlotte's bid for the two thousand twelve Summer Olympics, giving the city a venue for canoe and kayak slalom events.
Charlotte did not get the Olympics. The center got built anyway. Howie and CEO Jeff Wise won support from Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte, and on November fourth, two thousand six, the United States National Whitewater Center opened to the public on thirteen hundred acres along the Catawba. It bills itself as the world's largest recirculating, human-made whitewater river. Today the nonprofit also offers rock climbing, mountain biking, and miles of hiking trails. It has become one of the most visited outdoor recreation sites in the Southeast, proof that a sketch about an Olympic bid can outlast the bid itself.
