Foxburg Bike Trail Ground-Breaking April 24 10:00 AM
By Robert L. Jennings, Jr., Esq. President, ARTinCC
Allegheny River Trail in Clarion County (ARTinCC) is pleased to announce a Ground-Breaking for the Foxburg to Emlenton bike trail, Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 10:00am at the north side of the Foxburg Bridge in Foxburg. ARTinCC now owns a full mile of former railroad right of way, and it is time to actually start building this trail beginning at the bridge and progressing north. Numerous Clarion County, Venango County and local officials have been key in supporting the bike trail, and helping obtain funding from PA agencies for parts of the trail. They have been invited and some are able to come. Please join us for the Sat. Ground-Breaking, to celebrate this exciting beginning, and give recognition to local officials who have helped ARTinCC and its active Board of Directors get this far. This is only the beginning!
ARTinCC Board members will be on hand to move some earth, explain graphics for all to see and consider, and give guided walks for the first 600 feet of the raw path over which the trail will run, and show some of the construction challenges to be overcome. If you or your friends come and hope to get lunch after 11:30am at the Allegheny Grille or Pizza Shop, please call and make reservations, so they can arrange adequate staff for the likely turnout.
ARTinCC also is launching a new website, www.artincc.org, a new Facebook Friends Group, www.facebook.com/groups/artincc.friends, and a new Facebook page, www.facebook.com/AlleghenyRiverTrailin ClarionCounty. We need everyone to get involved with us to help make this bike trail a reality in the near future. The website and Facebook sites have just been launched, and are in a soft launch phase where possible glitches are being fleshed out and corrected (which commonly happen – ask Microsoft). We are hopeful these sites will be fully functional by April 13, and certainly April 24, but if you go to a site and there are problems, we probably know of them and are working on their solution. E-mail us at info@artincc. org or bobjennings1@ embarqmail.com with what you found.
When all glitches are corrected, the website artincc.org Volunteer tab will enable volunteers to fill out a secure on-line form to let us know what you can do to help. We will schedule activities based on what you tell us. Critically, the website is set up to allow credit card or paypal donations, either a current donation or monthly recurring donation artincc.org Donate tab. Donations will determine what we have to pay for construction materials and equipment rentals, thus your financial help will be seen in action on the ground. The Facebook Group www.facebook.com /groups/artincc.friends has a link to the same Volunteer form, and gives you the chance to post ideas, photos, and reactions about our and other trails. The Facebook page www.facebook.com/AlleghenyRiverTrailinClarionCounty provides core information about the trail. All of these sites have beautiful and inspiring photography of the area and local trails.
The icing on the cake is that our purchase of the 1.94 acres of land next to the Foxburg Bridge for the Trailhead, which also fronts the Allegheny River, will also enable the creation of a small public park along the river. We have agreed to name it the Fox-Hunt Park, in honor of Samuel Mickle Fox, and his Heirs, who originally owned all of the land in the area from north of Emlenton to south of Foxburg, as well as the Hunt Brothers, the last owners of the 1.94 acres purchased by ARTinCC with the cooperation of the Hunt family. Come to the Ground-Breaking April 24 to see this space, walk it, and begin to imagine, as we have, the ways this glorious space can be shaped into a small park for the benefit of the public. We are forming a local committee to work on design of the park, along with experts, once the predominant use of the land – the Bike Trailhead and associated parking – have been fully designed, and civil engineering work on the site is complete to shore up retaining walls, control stormwater, and make sure designs take ADA issues into consideration.
ARTinCC is a 501c3 nonprofit run by a local Board of Directors (listed on the website). We seek the input, ideas, labor, and financial support of all of the public, as we work together to turn this dream of closing gaps in the bike trail into reality – after decades of efforts by many to jump-start the process – which we now have done. Contact info@artincc.org, or go to our website and Facebook sites.