ASHEVILLE – It seemed like a match made in a frothy heaven.

Just as country music is married to Nashville and baseball’s home base is Cooperstown, it appeared Asheville would have had it all going on to host the International Whitewater Hall of Fame and World River Center.

But there were some faults in those stars and streams.

After a nationwide search led by director Risa Shimoda, and staff of the IWHOF, who whittled down the top choices to two Southeastern towns, Asheville and its French Broad River lost the bid to Richmond, Virginia, through which the James River flows.

The contingent of some 30 movers and shakers in the Western North Carolina boating, business and education world were left with a bit of a bruised ego but a renewed determination to make sure that the city one day becomes synonymous with whitewater greatness, rather than beer.

'It’s a mixture of disappointment and excitement'

“Richmond has done a great job, to their credit, for viewing whitewater, engaging people with the river. They don’t have the depth or history of whitewater that we do,” said Noah Wilson, project manager of Growing Outdoors, a program of Mountain BizWorks aimed at growing WNC’s outdoor industry, helped bring together the who’s who in WNC whitewater sports for the bid.

RELATED: WNC to add outdoor jobs, $10 million to local economy

“It’s a mixture of disappointment and excitement. We put hundreds of hours into the work of the RFI. But I learned so many things. It speaks to the long-term opportunities for our region to what we can do around our rivers,” Wilson said.

“Sometimes the silver medal is still a big deal. We need to do a better job of leveraging our river resources, engage our rivers and embrace them.”

The IWHOF, founded in 2003 by Adventure Sports Center international in McHenry, Maryland, recognizes and honors individuals who have made significant contributions to whitewater related activities, such as Olympic medalists and world champion competitors, but also those who were pioneers in the field, having made the first kayak descents of remote rivers or designed gear, such as the first PFD.

There are 43 inductees since the first class in 2005, representing 11 countries including the United States, with a strong contingent having lived, worked or trained at the world renowned Nantahala Outdoor Center, a whitewater paddling outfitter, instructional center in Bryson City that has spawned its share of Olympians and world-class paddlers.

What then, went wrong?

Shimoda, a 2010 IWHOF inductee, is a whitewater paddling legend who competed in six Freestyle World Championships and made the first female descent of the Green River Narrows. She is a former NOC board member and past executive director of American Whitewater.

She said the IWOF, which had never had a home, was “adopted” in 2016 by the American Canoe Association in Fredericksburg, Maryland.

“We began a project to fulfill original mission in 2003 to have a physical place where we would have programs, celebrate the inductees and tell their stories,” Shimoda said. “The project would build the first World River Center, and hopefully more.”

Last summer the committee identified 13 cities that had strong paddling communities, nearby schools from which to draw young people interested in paddling programming and were near an airport and “not in the boon docks.” Other key elements were having a local organizing committee, a fundraising group in place and potential funding mechanisms.

The list came down to four cities - Asheville; Richmond; Boise, Idaho; and Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. Asheville and Richmond were chosen for site visits in February.

Only having received the request for interest in December, Asheville rallied. Wilson, helped bring together the who’s who in WNC whitewater sports.

RELATED: French Broad whitewater wave coming soon to Woodfin

These included the town of Woodfin, which is developing a world-class Whitewater Wave on the French Broad River, representatives from Asheville, Buncombe County, the Tourism Development Authority, the sports commission, the Outdoor Gear Builders of WNC, Western Carolina University, the French Broad River Academy, conservation groups including American Whitewater and RiverLink, NOC, local paddling legends and others.

The lynchpin was the Woodfin Greenway and Blueway Project, to include 5 miles of new greenway connecting Asheville north to Woodfin, the 5-acre waterfront Silver-Line Park, expansion of Riverside Park, new access sites for paddling and the much-hyped Whitewater Wave – an engineered rock ledge in the French Broad River that will provide “surfable” water and a bit more excitement for canoeists, kayakers and playboaters.

RELATED: RiverLink to raise funds for $18 million river, greenways project in Woodfin

The proposal showcased Woodfin, just north of Asheville, as a community heavily invested in revitalizing the riverfront. The town voted for a $4.5 million general obligation bond in 2017 to help fund the wave. The bid cited a 20,000-square-foot building that could serve as the World River Center, and a smaller building that sits on the river, and along the 140-mile paddle trail.

It called WNC “one of the world’s most well-known and highly visible whitewater paddling locations, drawing paddlers from all over the world to run the Green River (and its famous Green Race), Linville, Nantahala (home of NOC and the 2013 Freestyle World Championships),” and other rivers.

Strong interest from the Asheville-Buncombe Tourism Development Authority was mentioned, although the bid said the TDA “could not commit funds at this time.”

“We were hoping to interest them in locating near the Whitewater Wave site,” said Woodfin Town Manager Jason Young of the in-river feature scheduled for construction in early 2021. Coincidentally it is being designed by engineer Scott Shipley, an Olympic kayaker who competed and trained at NOC and is a 2006 IWHOF inductee.

“My sense is we didn’t have a clear understanding of where they wanted to be and space requirements. They pitched a 60,000- square-foot facility. That is a much larger footprint that we were anticipating,” Young said.

While Shimoda said she was impressed by the community spirit and enthusiasm, there were some missing pieces, particularly the funding and solid plan for programming.

“The Woodfin wave project fundraising wasn’t complete yet,” she said of the nearly $5 million dollars still needed for the $18 million project. “The very alluring hospitality tax, which we would be a good contender for, was on hold for a year.”

She said even though Asheville had the paddling heart, legacy and history, Richmond, had more properties, solid visioning, and fundraising in place.

But wait, there’s a silver lining

Demp Bradford, executive director of the Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission, said landing an international whitewater center would have enhanced the Woodfin Wave.

“But we feel that our Woodfin Wave project is very strong in itself, and we’ll look at ways to enhance the moving forward,” Bradford said. “I think WNC is one of the top destinations for whitewater sports, and we’ll continue to market that and to push that.”

Clark Duncan, senior vice president of economic development at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, said there is a silver lining just in the meeting of all the minds who put the proposal together.

“There was a great realization of what the French Broad River and the outdoor industry in general has come to mean for our community, not only our ethos for conservation, but for economic development,” Duncan said.

“What we see going forward is that broad partnership of nonprofits, of academics, conservationists and economic developers is trying to cultivate this idea of sense of place," he said. "The Woodfin Wave is an important aspect not only for recreation, but a part of important economic development aspect. We’re at an interesting critical mass when you look at who’s who in the outdoor products industry.”

Paddlesports Museum underway

Even before the idea of hosting the International Whitewater Hall of Fame, local paddling legends had been stirring up the idea for the Southern Appalachian Paddlesports Museum, which officially launched March 23 in a back room of Black Dome Mountain Sports on Tunnel Road.

Mike Fischesser, who established the Carolina Climbers Museum in Black Dome three years ago, was the driving force, along with Payson Kennedy, one of the founders of NOC in 1972, and Bunny Johns, former NOC president, famed instructor and open canoe and wildwater champion.

Kennedy was inducted into the IWHOF in 2005 for his leadership in promoting whitewater paddling instruction, rafting, river conservation and safety.

Johns was inducted in 2017 for “quietly and humbly” revolutionizing how whitewater kayaking and canoeing was taught.

Fischesser, formerly with North Carolina Outward Bound, a climber and paddler and current executive director of American Adventure Service Corps, said the idea was unrelated to the IWHOF bid, but there might be an opportunity to work together with the collaborative that came together around the bid.

Right now, the museum, which he’s calling SAPM, exists pretty much just in theory. The idea, Fischesser said, is to operate it in a similar fashion to the climbing museum, in which he produces historical video documentaries every year. So far there are three climbing videos. The next, about Linville Gorge, will premiere April 20 at the Grail Movie House.

“Maybe once or twice a year we’ll have a historical documentary, invite people, have popcorn, just trying to capture the history of those two sports,” Fischesser said.

He wants to interview the treasure trove of “old-time” paddlers and their breathtaking tales of adventure. He would also like to curate canoes and kayaks that represent the historical evolution of boating, old equipment, life jackets, helmets, throw ropes.

There is also a whole new crop of paddling phenoms coming out of NOC, including 2016 Summer Olympian Michal Smolen, who learned to paddle on the Nantahala and just won the Whitewater U.S. Open on that river March 31, and 15-year-old Evy Leibfarth of Bryson City, who won the women's U.S. Open and is a strong contender for the 2020 Summer Olympics team.

William Irving, current president of the NOC who worked on the IWHOF steering committee, said he can see world river center-themed project taking place in Woodfin and at the NOC, which has an indelible impact on whitewater and the paddlesport industry as a whole.

“It’s not just the hall of famers, it’s the boat makers, the PFD industry and whitewater shoes have spun out of NOC and the staff. In the ‘70s and 80s, boats and the industry was changing so fast, staff felt the need to develop a set curriculum to keep everyone coming back. They left quite a legacy behind,” Irving said.

Shimoda said nothing is “totally off the table” with Asheville

“We hope to build a World River Center in Europe and one down under (Australia), and there might be more than one in the U.S.,” Shimoda said. “We encourage them to take a deep breath, regroup. They could have their own World River Center in Asheville with a hall of fame as a theme.”

Young, of Woodfin, said missing out on the IWHOF bid has done nothing to stop the river revitalization momentum.

“We’re not giving up on a World River Center. We’re not giving up on the concept,” Young said.

“We’re trying to find a place to bring together various nonprofits that are focused on the environment and the river under a shared atmosphere. we fell like there’s an opportunity here, we just need to figure out how to put it together.”

Nominate a world-class paddler

Want to nominate someone for the International Whitewater Hall of Fame? Nominations are being taken here until April 30. The winners will be inducted Oct. 5 in Nuremburg, Germany, at the Paddle Expo International Trade Show.