Opening Letters

Two Rivers Diverge ...

we chose the one that nobody knows about

Trevor Kupfer |

Once upon a time, a small Wisconsin community became a major city because of the confluence of rivers within its borders. When the lumber boom kicked in during the 1800s, those rivers were the main source of travel, bringing countless visitors to the humble city every week. As the 20th century approached, the boomtown erected tons of entertainment venues, shops, and events in its downtown to attract the tourists as patrons. That small community is now more commonly known as “The Dells.”

Well, did I get ya? Were you thinking I was talking about Eau Claire?

After living in both Eau Claire and “The Dells” (Lake Delton and Wisconsin Dells), I’ve always been struck by the similarity in these two communities’ origins. But even more striking is how drastically their paths changed going into the future.

While our area boomed in population (we’re at about 70,000 and theirs currently floats around 5,000), theirs boomed in tourism to become of national notoriety. And while I must admit that Eau Claire is a far better place to live, their tiny town has more amenities than you can possibly imagine. But not all of it is kitsch, as you may think. They have incredible parks, roads, trails, attractions, entertainment venues, restaurants, events, libraries, water quality, etc. – and much of it made possible by tourists.
So as we increasingly pour over the budget, try to cut corners, and eventually raise taxes, they’re using room tax funds that, by state law, go toward developing tourism. Their revenues are sky high (of course), and ours are dwindling (ouch).

For example, a bunch of pre-teen kids and a parks and rec worker spoke at a Lake Delton board meeting, stating the need for an outdoor skate park. Their indoor park was pathetic, always had capacity crowds, and many of the local youths traveled two hours away to the nearest park every weekend. By spring of the next year, Lake Delton had arguably built the best skate park in the state. There was almost no resistance to the plan (with a price tag exceeding $300,000), and when I left a few months later they were already talking about the possibility of an addition.

The skate park is just one example of dozens that illustrates the ease with which they’re able to improve quality of life and municipal services without batting an eye.

The point is not to show how Eau Claire has dropped the ball on these opportunities, but to use The Dells as an example of how a community like ours can gain statewide notoriety (we’re not well known in other parts of the state), draw in more money (we sure could use it), and add unique amenities that locals and visitors can both enjoy (sign me up).

When you hear “The Dells” you think of “The Waterpark Capital of the World” – the ginormous waterparks, the hotels, the water shows, the go carts, the roller coasters, the mini golf, and the t-shirt shops. But do you know what their biggest attraction is every year? The river.


    The thing that made The Dells popular – the natural beauty – has turned into two duck companies (amphibious military vehicles), countless boat rides (historic, romantic, etc.), fishing trips, and even jet ski rentals.

OK, sure. We don’t have the bluffs or rock formations, but we’ve got natural beauty up the ying-yang. Volume One’s last two Best Of polls come to mind, wherein voters said the No. 1 reason to stay here is the natural beauty, the No. 2 thing we’re good at is natural beauty, and the No. 1 thing that should happen soon is develop the riverfront.

It’s not that no one is attracted to our area’s natural beauty. In fact, Visit Eau Claire’s Executive Director, Linda John, said recreation is one of the primary reasons people come here (along with sporting events, conferences, family getaways, cultural arts, and history). But our city has two rivers that converge in the heart of downtown, and the only thing we seem to use them for is tubing in the summer. There’s no major events surrounding them, very little development along them, zero tours, and only a few trip/rental opportunities.

Let’s get beyond selling naming rights to buildings or auctioning off all city property (just some of the things that have been discussed). The correlation between tourism and economic impact in our area could be vastly improved to benefit local entrepreneurs, diversify the business sector, and generate more funds for cool services and amenities.

The economic impact from tourism in Eau Claire County was $177 million in 2008, placing our county 19th out of 72. By population, we are the ninth most populous in the state. Yet similar-sized communities like La Crosse, Oshkosh, Sheboygan, and Janesville all drew between $202 million and $345 million last year.

This isn’t all on the shoulders of our tourism bureau. The city and general populace have a stake in this, too, because making these changes will require a shift in our priorities. Do we want to concentrate only on attracting large companies, or should we also focus on new attractions/events? Do we want to stick with the status quo and keep paying more and more in taxes, or should we seek new revenue streams through increased tourism and creative economic development?

As fun as arguing about the budget has been, I think we’re ready for a change. Plus I bet we could use a sweet new public skatepark …