08-22-07 Fredericksburg makes an offer canoe association can't refuse - Land and more donated by Silver and other community leaders

The Free Lance Star

Published August 22, 2007

By RUSTY DENNEN

The American Canoe Association, which for years has been landlocked in Northern Virginia, will relocate along the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg next spring.

The 50,000-member nonprofit association yesterday told city officials that it had chosen Fredericksburg over two other finalists--Lake Luzerne, N.Y., and Eden, N.C.

"It's a great day. We're very excited about them coming," said Kevin Gullette, Fredericksburg's director of business development. The association's presence is expected to be a boon for tourism.

"The next step will be to pull everyone together to sit down" and go over the details, he said.

The new headquarters will be located on an acre donated by the Silver Cos. in its planned "ecotourism" area of Celebrate Virginia along the river just west of Interstate 95.

The area has much appeal for the nation's largest canoeing organization, which publishes "Paddler Magazine."

Miles of the Rappahannock and Rapidan River shoreline upstream of the city are protected from development in a conservation easement completed last year.

And, with the removal of the Embrey Dam in 2004, the Rappahannock is the longest free-flowing river in the state.

Along with the location and scenery, Fredericksburg and its partners offered an incentive and tax-savings package worth an estimated $2.3 million.

The package includes:

• The Silver Cos.' land, free rent for temporary offices, and about $1.8 million toward its new headquarters. The association needs office space for 15 employees and a museum.
• Wachovia bank will handle the tax-exempt financing for the office building, saving the association about $580,000.
• Hilldrup Moving and Storage of Stafford agreed to move the association at cost, a savings of about $5,000.
• The University of Mary Washington agreed to develop an internship program.
• Culpeper Crossing, owned by the Currier family, offered the association exclusive river access on its property on the Rapidan.

The city and the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance have been working on the deal for several months. The 21-member ACA board toured the city one weekend in July.

"We're very eager to get started and to continue working with the Fredericksburg community," Pamela Dillon, the ACA executive director, said yesterday.

The association began looking for a new home earlier this year because the lease on its current space in Springfield expires in April.