A historic site and popular adventure destination for Tennessee Valley Outsiders was deemed a total loss after a fire early Tuesday morning, taking with it some Olympic history. The Ocoee Whitewater Center, near Ducktown, Tennessee, in the southeastern part of the state, was the canoe slalom venue for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Crews in Polk County, as well as the USDA Forest Service, worked the scene of the Ocoee Whitewater Center and are assessing the damage. No injuries were reported from the fire.
Polk County Emergency Management Agency Director Steve Lofty told the Chattanooga Times Free Press the blaze had engulfed about 90 percent of the structure by the time a full fire-response crew got to the scene on the Ocoee River.
“It’s a huge loss to the community here,” Lofty said. “Over half the structure was on fire before we ever got there. We just didn’t have enough water and enough resources to control it. It was so far along before we knew it was burning, there wasn’t really any hope.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the cause of the fire, the Forest Service said. No one is allowed on site until its investigation is complete.
The Polk County 911 Emergency Community District said on its social media page Tuesday morning that Highway 64 had been shut down from Highway 314 to Ducktown due to the fire. There was also a tractor-trailer fire along Highway 64 between mile markers 16-17 prior to the whitewater center fire.
“First, we are just so grateful that no one was injured during the fire and thankful to our partners for their assistance in getting the fire under control and investigating the cause,” Mike Wright, Acting Forest Supervisor for the Cherokee National Forest, said. “The Ocoee Whitewater Center was a unique site not just here on the Cherokee National Forest, but across the Forest Service. It is a difficult loss for us.”
Nearby Trail Closings
The Forest Service also said with the Ocoee Whitewater Center closed, some associated trails are also closed, including:
- Rhododendron Trail
- Bear Paw Loop Trail
- Old Copper Road Trail
- 64 Connector Path
- Chestnut Mountain Loop/Bear Paw Connector Trail
Ocoee Whitewater Center a Place to Relive Olympic Dreams
The 1996 Summer Games put the Ocoee Whitewater Center on the map when it hosted the world’s first Olympic canoe and kayak slalom events on a natural river. The center marries the best of the natural and artificial worlds. Natural river boulders and artificial rocks were placed in a quarter-mile section of the Ocoee River to create a challenging and internationally acclaimed whitewater course. Some 20,000 tons of quarried limestone, 40,000 tons of larger surface boulders and 8,000 cubic yards of cementing compound were meticulously placed in the competitive channel.
A Year-Round Regional Recreation Destination
Since the 1996 Olympics, the center has become a hub for outdoor recreational activities, drawing some 300,000 visitors each year. There are more than 30 miles of trails for hikers and mountain bikers, including the looped Bear Paw and Chestnut Mountain trails, and the Thunder Rock Express.
The Old Copper Road Historic Trail allows hikers and bikers an easier-paced adventure along the restored path, which was formerly used to transport copper by wagon from Ducktown to Cleveland before the arrival of the railroad from Blue Ridge. The Rhododendron Trail follows the river downstream with sections built on wooden walkways above the Ocoee River.
The Associated Press, WATE-Knoxville, Channel 3-Knoxville and the USDA Forest Service contributed to this report.
