Ground-breaking Event For Beginning Of Construction of Fox-Hunt Park - Phase I

Allegheny River Trail in Clarion County (ARTinCC) is excited to announce a public ground-breaking on the beginning of construction of Phase I of the Fox-Hunt Park in Foxburg. ARTinCC, with DCNR’s help, in 2021 acquired 4-5 acres of overgrown land, formerly owned by the Hunt Bros., to develop a public park from Railroad Street down to the Allegheny River’s edge, just north of the new Rt. 58 Bridge over the Allegheny River. ARTinCC volunteers then spent many months clearing the land, including demolishing a decaying warehouse formerly used by the Keystone Supply Company – the region’s major building supplies company from the early 1900’s to the late 1960s. ARTinCC then obtained DCED funding for professionals to develop a Master Plan for the “Fox-Hunt Community Park”, after multiple public meetings and extensive community input. The Master Plan was completed late in 2023.

The initial consensus was that the most important initial construction should be the largest practical parking lot the land would hold, as well as a new and safer boat launch for non- motorized kayaks and canoes. An ARTinCC Board Member engineer designed the parking lot early in 2024 to hold about 60 vehicles, and that’s when things got complicated. The Clarion County Conservation District enforces federal and Pa laws protecting waterways such as the Allegheny River. In particular, our Allegheny River contains endangered river mussels, that are found in few locations on earth. Protecting these mussels added years to the construction of the mid-2000s Rt. 58 bridge, and here caused similar hurdles. The parking lot (including its construction) and the vehicles it will service will create considerable stormwater runoff, that must be collected and introduced into the groundwater rather than simply flow untreated into the river. This required a formal NPDES stormwater permit and engineering controls, that required design and agency input for over 18 months, resulting in the permit being issued in August of 2025. David Neill, PE of the EADs Group is the engineer that got this done.

This NPDES Permit involves the bulk of the parking lot being just west of the Shoup Truck driveway and Railroad Street (with another 10 spots down near the top of the riverbank). The parking lot on its sides has a “Loop Road” (for entry to and exit from the parking lot) paved in asphalt to channel all stormwater inside of the Loop Road down to the top of the riverbank through a system of underground drains and piping. Near the top of the riverbank, all of this collected stormwater is introduced into an excavated subsurface system of perforated piping and gravel, for water to percolate into the groundwater. The overall system is encircled on the surface by banks of large filter socks to push stormwater towards the treatment system.

Just below the level of the river, a 50’ long concrete ramp will be built into the river to enable safe launching of kayaks and canoes. This ramp will be at least partially funded through a Fish and Boat Commission grant separate from the NPDES Permit funding.

The GOOD NEWS is this overall Phase I Park Project will start very soon and may be completed in September, weather permitting. The asphalt Loop Road is governed by PennDOT restrictions such that asphalt must be laid and cured before cold weather sets in. PennDOT sets the deadlines, and if the weather is going to get too cold, asphalt plants shut down, and no further asphalt can be laid until the following year.

The BAD NEWS is that once construction starts in May, the overall site will be fenced, and cannot be used for parking or boat launching. The Project was put out for bid in December of 2025, and the lowest bid was by Puryear Excavation of Boyers. The low bid was $387,000, with 7 higher bids ranging up to over $900,000, with an average of $660,000. ARTinCC over the last 4 years raised $300,000 in funding from the PA Commonwealth Finance Authority, and a private foundation, and is still accumulating the remaining $87,000 to finish the project (donations would be appreciated). During construction, the site will be heavily used for excavators and other large construction equipment, bulk construction materials such as pallets of piping, filter socks, water inlets, bulk clear fill and temporarily excavated fill, as well as cement mixers and materials to accomplish the 50’ boat ramp. Add to those the vehicles of workers, and the need for open routes for the movement of all of the above, thus you can understand why the site has to be isolated during construction.

A Ground-braking to introduce and give thanks to the many key players who made this multi-year project a reality, will be held at the Park site just north of the Rt. 58 Bridge across from the Pizza Shop, on Saturday, May 2, 2026, 10:00am rain or shine, including photographs for posterity. After this period, everyone is invited back to the Pizza Shop for ARTinCC coverage of coffee, soda, lemonaide, etc., at which point ARTinCC will answer all questions until everyone wants to go home. We will give a preview of the next major construction project to soon unfold – the first mile of the bike trail going out for bids hopefully in May to use a $533,000 grant from DCNR. Also, we have initial plans afoot for Phase II of the Park development, which at a minimum will include numerous benches on which to sit and watch the wildlife and water flow by.

See you May 2, 2026. Bob Jennings, ARTinCC President. P.O. Box 325, Foxburg, PA 16036; BobJennings1@embarqmail.com ; C 412-721-7615.