“The great, gray-green, greasy Limpopo River,” is how British author Rudyard Kipling described one of the major waterways of Southern Africa in the “Just So” stories.
In recent months the waters of the Bricktown Canal have had a rather greenish tint to them, probably as a result of chemicals that are placed there for safety reasons. Those waters might in time engulf several streets and walkways in the downtown area, as there now seems to be a consensus that the Canal should be expanded beyond Bricktown.
The original plan first proposed by Oklahoma City civic leader Ray Ackerman called for the Canal to extend along Reno Avenue, to reach the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds. Now there are several competing proposals as to how the canal should be expanded. As those proposals battle their way through the court of public opinion and among City leaders, it may be wise to consider measures to bring more people to the canal in its current state.
The French capitol offers an example of how that goal could be achieved. In the summer of 2002, the Socialist mayor of Paris, Betrand Delanoe, ordered that tons of sand and a row of palm trees be brought to the banks of the Seine River. Delanoe proclaimed the sandy sites along the Seine as the Paris Plage, or beach. Parisians flocked to that waterway in response. Despite the fact that people can not swim in the Seine, the Paris Plage has become a Summer tradition in the French capital that runs for a four week period in July and August. The concept has been replicated in cities as diverse as Barcelona and Tokyo.
As you read this, Parisian ice cream sellers on bicycles on the sand offer their wares to people in deck chairs while bands often perform without charge. People of various ages can be seen playing and relaxing along the Seine amidst the formidable architecture of the City of Light, while mimes and other street artists perform for them. The ethnic and cultural diversity of modern day Paris can be seen there as well, as young women in head scarves and Catholic nuns sit on the sand adjacent to tattooed teenagers with nose rings.
A similar beach along the Bricktown canal would display Oklahoma City’s increasing diversity and also the harmony in which the various groups in Oklahoma City live together. Attendees would overhear the story of the canal’s creation as the gondoliers who man the tour boats that traverse the waterway tell passengers about it.
Such an undertaking would probably bring the national media’s attentions to Oklahoma City just as the recently completed Red Earth Festival did. The Canal has many visitors during the holiday season when it is festooned with Christmas lights. Creation of a beach there in July and August would insure its popularity during the Summer months as well.
