Doing something right takes time.
Fingers crossed, we’re looking forward to an April 2024 opening!
Well, it’s been a year! And, it’s been a while since we’ve updated the community on where we stand with the Harrison Park Trails! Needless to say, progress has been slower than we’d hoped. That’s often the case with projects like this, especially one being conducted with 100% volunteer effort and funding, and inexperienced in public sector projects like this. So patience is a virtue I guess?
Anyway, that patience will finally pay off this winter/spring! Let’s dive in to update everyone where we’re at for this incredible community project.
Projected Timeline
We’ll just skip straight to the good stuff so you can know what to expect, and read on if you have further interest.
Our current projected timeline for some kind of Grand Public Opening is spring 2024! Earth Day sounds great perhaps? Much has to happen before then, but it’s not a prohibitive amount as long as we have enough coordinated volunteer effort to throw at it.
Where It Stands
Unfortunately, due to a combination of factors, not much trail work has taken place since last spring. One reason is that it’s just really hard to do trail work once the vegetation leafs out for the year, but the biggest reason was that we felt a need to wait for IMBA (International Mountain Bicycling Association) to complete it’s field work and deliver their planning document to us. We felt this was the right course of action for a number of reasons:
- they are professionals in the space, and are experienced in all the other design elements we are not, including traffic flow, progressive experience, accommodating varied trail user groups, planning for future amenities, planning for future features, and much more.
- the planning document they deliver will be critical for future fundraising toward complex future features and amenities
- the planning document will elevate the status and professionalism of the project beyond anything we have been involved with in the past. Having the IMBA name associated with a trail system is a big deal.
- the planning document will be critical to unlock future funding sources and projects. (We don’t plan on stopping with Harrison Park, after all).
Well, we are happy to report that the wait is (mostly) over! We are still awaiting delivery of the final document, but IMBA field work is complete, new trails are flagged, and a trail layout map has been provided. Much of it utilizes existing work we and others had done at the site, but there is plenty of new trail corridor to forge (and even more future potential).
Several VCTA volunteers have set to work on this preliminary map, opening up trail corridor by removing brush, leaf cover, and deadfall. The final volunteer step will be digging several bench cuts and drainage sections to make the trail surface easy to tread upon and to combat future erosion. This will be the primary job over the winter, and the one where we will need the most help! Contact us if you want to be added to the trail volunteer group.
Parking Lot
As mentioned previously, the parking lot is complete and looks great! This was a big source of delay early in the year, as it just was not possible to have multiple volunteers at the site without it. It was major project with a large expenditure of funding as well, graciously provided by our amazing partners Vermilion Healthcare Foundation and Balloons Over Vermilion.
The finished lot has ~20 parking spaces, and has been prepped for lighting and water. Lighting materials graciously provided by the City of Danville, and water by Aqua Illinois. Both of these are invaluable partners to this and future trail opportunities in the city and county, so be sure to tell them thanks!
IMBA Planning Document
The preliminary map we have includes the following trail corridor layout. Feel free to stop in at the lot and check out some of the flag lines. Be warned, some of the walking is currently across incredibly steep and somewhat treacherous terrain, so explore at your own risk!
Trail Builder Contacts
We’ve made some important trail builder contacts that will bring an experienced eye to so some of the more ambitious and technical features and sections of the trail design, specifically the bike-optimized sections. There are some pretty big names associated with these contacts, names anyone in cycling will know, but we’re not quite at liberty to share anything yet. Stay tuned!
Community Partners
Even though trail work has been slow, partnerships are continuing to be built! We’ve got several interested local organizations that bring a lot of punch to the project in exactly the places we need it. Stay tuned to some big announcements!
Funding
Parking lot expenditure and realizing our portion of the IMBA grant have been the major expenditures so far. We are left with just enough to complete the Phase I trail construction, but we’re going to need to find much more for some of the more ambitious design elements in the IMBA planning document. If you or anyone you know is involved with an organization interested in partnering with us on this important work, please contact us! Or, just head over and make a donation!
Additionally, we’re huge believers in transparency, so if you really want to know where the dollars are going, have a look at our complete financial statement.
Volunteer Opportunities
Sign up to be kept in the know on volunteer days! There will be plenty over the winter, and while the weather might not be the best, it’s a great time to get out, get some fresh air, and spend some time playing in the dirt with great people who share in the vision of making Vermilion County a place we can all be proud of, using just the humble trail!
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