The Story Behind South Bend's East Race Waterway (Former South Bend Mayor Roger Parent)

In this episode, former South Bend Mayor Roger Parent, who was mayor at the time the East Race Waterway was built in the early 1980s, joins me and shares his memories of what it was like to collaboratively accomplish building something that literally was the first in North America. 

You’ll learn that the East Race has not always looked like the one we know now. Originally built in 1843 to power industry, but by the 1950s it was a public hazard no longer in use and the city filled it in. The area was filthy, undesirable, and attracted vagrants. The East Race that we know now was built in the early 1980s and at that time, there was quite an amount of community drama for AND against the building of a whitewater kayak course flowing through a downtown area.  

Thank you Roger Parent for sharing your memories!

Folks: Check out Roger's new book (and others) on his website! https://rogerparent.org/

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