PADDLING -- The artificial wave that has become a fixture in downtown Missoula and attracted kayakers from across the nation needs emergency repairs.

Brennan’s Wave was completed in 2006 and has served as a site for the U.S. Kayak Team’s Olympic Trial and the Montana Whitewater Championships, according to a story in the Missoulian.

Trent Baker, the spokesman for the nonprofit organization that funded the wave’s construction and oversees an endowment for its maintenance, says the wave has a giant crack in its middle chute.

The Missoulian reports runoff flows in the Clark Fork River likely caused the erosion.

Baker’s nonprofit has $20,000 to put toward fixing the crack but the repairs are expected to cost $50,000.

The group is seeking donations.