Time to get creative

I've been disappointed by Cedar Rapids' pursuit of a casino project for months. Even now that the gambling commission turned it down, the casino backers still won't give up. Is a casino really the best idea that Cedar Rapids can come up with?

Let's be more creative, Cedar Rapids, to find a more suitable use for the Time Check neighborhood.

A few weeks ago, I read a very interesting article in The Gazette about Mud Runner obstacle courses and extreme sports activities that attract today's youths. What if we built a world-class facility that tested participants' strength, endurance and mental prowess? Would the casino investors - or other interested investors - consider redirecting their energy and resources to build a first-class facility that would push users to their limits and attract participants from all over Iowa and the Midwest?

Such an extreme sports complex could include climbing walls for rock climbing and canyon walls for rappelling, with a reconfigurable obstacle course and a 'Mud Runner” mud bowl for getting dirty.

It could include a water park with cliff diving, raging rapids kayaking, extreme slides in a tropical canyon and a relaxing lazy river to chill out on, through tropical caves and canyons - indoor and outdoor. Or a dive tank with caves for scuba-dive training and underwater cave exploration.

It could include high-ropes and low-ropes courses or high-wire cycles; bungee acrobatics or sky diving simulation with a vertical turbofan to fly with your friends.

How about bumper cars or laser tag and paintball venues, indoor and outdoor, or other simulators where teams of friends battle teams of foes in a simulated world of dog fights, space travel or land combat experiences.

It could include a human-powered vehicle velodrome, testing new vehicle technologies, with hills, obstacles and reconfigurable surface conditions or an ever-changing maze. It could include classy restaurants overlooking all the venues.

A facility like this, located on the Cedar River, could host Iron Man and other competitions. Groups could rent out features for blocks of time. 'Intramural events” could be hosted to encourage teams from different communities and organizations around the region to compete against one another.

This would not be a gym, but an extreme athletic experience to test strength, endurance and reflexes. Where users face difficult experiences and, in doing so, increase their confidence, overcome their fears and learn to embrace new challenges.

Would such a facility attract the same crowd as a casino? Most likely, no - but it would definitely attract young adults from all over Iowa and across the Midwest. Think about it. What does Iowa lack? Mountains, canyons, oceans, tropical and desert climates. So, instead of our young people moving to areas that have those features, build a venue that embraces those features and provides opportunities to host extreme activities for an extreme generation!

' Raymond Jorgensen of Marion has worked at Rockwell Collins for 19 years and two of his older children have moved out of Iowa. Comments: rwjorgen@netins.net