A couple of weeks ago, at one of our coffee chats in Foxburg, Lisa Myers joined us. Lisa is a champion and staunch supporter of Allegheny River Trail in Clarion County (ARTinCC). She was kind enough to give me a tour of the riverfront property where the proposed Fox-Hunt Community Park will be and a quick view of what the ARTinCC team of volunteers has been working on.
I had seen the park proposal drawing, but to hear from Lisa the vision of ARTinCC for the space while, at the same time standing there had me catching the “bug” of excitement for this project. (ARTinCC members will be available at Foxburg Pizza on Wednesday, Sept. 20 from 5–7 p.m. to show the site. See it for yourself!)
The engineers working on the master plan have included much-needed amenities such as more parking, updated river access, public restrooms, and a safer pedestrian crossing for Rt. 58. This Preliminary Master Plan also shows a new common space with picnic tables, a play area, and a native plant garden. Imagine this mostly empty space bustling with families and folks from our community and those visiting the area. They are even considering converting an existing wall structure into an outdoor market space!
ARTinCC, with the help of numerous members of the community, has already been working on drainage and other necessary improvements to the bike trail North of Foxburg, and as funding comes in and paperwork goes through, they will also be hiring contractors to build the trail. The completed bike trail, along with the new park and river access will be a great addition to the beautiful town of Foxburg and will benefit the surrounding towns as well.
There is still a long road and many things to do to complete the trail from Foxburg to Emlenton and to bring the engineer’s drawing to life, but the next step is to hear from the community. ARTinCC and the Foxburg Borough are working together to bring this project to fruition, and they are looking for input from the community on the things they would like to see and the needs that could be met in this space. The public is invited to a presentation of the plan at the Crawford Center (511 Hill Street) in Emlenton on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
I encourage everyone in the community (not just in Foxburg) to go check out the proposed park site, either on your own or with an ARTinCC member on the 20th, and also attend the meeting on Sept. 21. Show your support for ARTinCC and all the volunteers who have been working tirelessly on this project already. I hope to see you there! And as always, you are invited to stop in and chat about redevelopment and other community projects on Fridays in Foxburg from 1-3 p.m. at Divani.
Rachel Brosnahan is the Community Engagement Coordinator for River Roots Redevelopment. She can be reached by email at rachel@riverrootsredevelopment.org.
