Asked to name the best whitewater kayaking and canoeing stretches in Connecticut, most paddlers would single out a gnarly, 2.6-mile section of Class IV rapids on the Housatonic River from Bulls Bridge Dam to Gaylordville, or Diana's Pool on the Natchaug that also kicks up to Class IV, or Satan’s Kingdom and Tarriffville Gorge on the Farmington, where the U.S. Olympic team has trained and where I once spent several terrifying minutes trapped in a hydraulic that threatened to either pull me under or spit me out over a broken dam.

But a few cognoscenti would rhapsodize about Pub Hole on the Willimantic River in Windham, where a breached dam has created a quarter-mile maelstrom of churning water that would challenge even the most adventurous paddlers. American Whitewater, the authority on all things that flow fast, describes this hole as “retentive,” adding that is “best avoided in higher water.”

This is where a dedicated group has been working for years to build the Willimantic Whitewater Park, an ambitious project that would incorporate paddling, fish preservation, scientific research and hiking trails with hopes of transforming a former industrial center into a “multi-use recreation and transcultural arts hub.”

“My pie-in-the-sky dream is that this park would be used by the community year-round – hikers, kayakers, music performers, people coming to town and stopping at a restaurant; new outfitting centers …” Jim Turner, president of The Willimantic Whitewater Partnership, told me.

Turner’s organization has received $200,000 in funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up a 3.4-acre site on the river and hopes much of that remediation can be completed this fall.

In addition the partnership has teamed up with Eastern Connecticut State University, the Windham Theater Guild, Mill Museum and several other institutions to apply for a National Endowment for the Arts grant to create an environmental arts park.

“I feel pretty good about our chances,” Turner said.

Willimantic, a former city now part of the town of Windham, also is working with state officials to complete a section of the National Greenway Trail connecting to the site. The property lies at the intersection of four greenways: the East Coast Greenway, the Airline Trail, the Hop River Trail and the Willimantic River Greenway.

An architect who helped design the artificial whitewater course used in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta visited the Willimantic site and was very enthusiastic about the prospects of developing one here, Turner said – though he noted any such project would likely be years away. For the time being paddlers can enjoy the sporting section of rapids on the Willimantic River in the spring and after a good rain.

Willimantic, an Algonquian term for “land of the swift running water,” became known as “Thread City” in the early 19th century because its cotton mills were among the world’s leading thread producers. After the mills relocated to the South in the 20th century, Willimantic’s fortunes declined and officials launched various urban renewal projects, such as converting old factories into residential quarters, art studios and technology centers.

It also has sought to capitalize on its colorful past, most notably by decorating a bridge across the Willimantic River with 11-foot-tall bronze sculptures of frogs perched on spools of thread. These statues pay tribute to the legendary Windham Frog Fight (or Fright) in June 1754, when villagers were awakened to shrieks and cries they mistakenly though either were attacking Native Americans, wild animals or evil spirits.

It turns out a longstanding drought had reduced the region’s standing water to a small pond, where throngs of frogs had congregated.

Now, more than 250 years later, Willimantic officials hope their water draws not just frogs but recreation enthusiasts, art patrons and other visitors to help revitalize the neighborhood. It’s a worthy goal and I hope it succeeds.

For more information, visit willimanticwhitewater.org/.