The Coon Rapids Dam may be developing an identity problem.
To most people, the dam is a scenic walkway, bisecting the east and west Mississippi River vistas and linking the Hennepin County side of the Coon Rapids Dam and Regional Park to the Anoka County side. The dam creates a summertime high-water play area for boaters and fishermen, and a low-water winter panorama for residents on both banks.
But under the water's surface sleeps an abandoned hydroelectric plant, that if restored, could create about 44,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy each year, according to the dam's owner and operator, Three Rivers Park District. The district also estimates that the dam eventually could generate as much as $1.4 million in revenue.
A multi-year licensing process will be necessary before any restoration can begin. Still, residents along the Coon Rapids bank, whose properties end somewhere between slope and current, say they feel out of the loop; most of those interviewed said a reporter's call was the first they'd heard of the idea.
There were lots of questions, who would pay for the project, and for ice damage to their banks and retaining walls, how a construction project would affect the park they've come to love, just steps outside their back doors.
The dam produced energy from 1913 to 1966. In 1969, Northern States Power (NSP) gave the dam, 225 acres and $300,000 to what was then Hennepin County Park Reserve District.
The Park District, supported largely by its taxing authority in suburban Hennepin County, counts the dam as an important part of its park system, but officials say it's time for the dam to pull some of its own weight.
In the 40 years since NSP handed it over, the dam has needed about $11 million in maintenance and repairs. About a third has come from Three Rivers funds.