Whitewater Park Set to Open on Susquehanna in Pa.

A $4 million whitewater park below the Holtwood Dam on the Susquehanna River, years in the planning, is about to open to the public.

Lancaster Newspapers reported Monday that the whitewater play-boating park was built after kayakers and a whitewater advocacy group protested a PPL expansion that would remove river bottom boulders that created conditions conducive to freestyle kayaking.

Officials say workers manipulated a shad ladder at the western end of the dam with rounded concrete boulders, steps and chutes to create three whitewater features over the length of a football field.

Kayakers tested the area over the course of three days last week.

The park will open after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission signs off on a safety plan. That could occur in the coming weeks.