The Southeast Tennessee cities of Dunlap and Calhoun each got a chunk of almost $20 million in funding from the state’s Local Parks and Recreation Fund and Recreational Trails Program grants.
Calhoun will use $490,000 in trails program funding for the Calhoun Blueway Enhancement and Trail Project, while Dunlap will use $525,000 from a trails program grant and other funding for the Dunlap Pump Track Park.
The grants were part of $18.5 million in parks and recreation funds and more than $1.7 million in trails program funds recently awarded by the state Department of Environment and Conservation’s Office of Outdoor Recreation, according to the agency.
Grants funded projects in 19 communities across Tennessee through a partnership with the state Department of Economic and Community Development to provide a portion of matching money through the Grant Opportunity Fund.
CALHOUN
For Calhoun, City Manager Joe Bryan said the grant will help fund ongoing development of the town’s access to the Hiwassee River Blueway.
“The Hiwassee River Blueway Access Point in Calhoun is the only public access point to the Hiwassee River in McMinn County,” Calhoun city manager Joe Bryan said via email.
(READ MORE: Red Bank awarded $400,000 for new multiuse trail system)
A recent state tourism enhancement grant funded renovations to a boat dock pier, kayak launch with gangway, shade structures, picnic tables, a fishing dock, expanded river frontage benches, a larger paved parking lot, new fencing, security lighting and a picnic area with a bluff view, Bryan said.
The $490,000 will fund an expansion of walking trails leading east and west from the access point, Bryan said. The east trail will travel 1,500 feet along the river bluff and end at the historic Saulpaw Mill Dam on Eastanallee Creek, and an observation deck at the end of the trail will provide a scenic overlook point to the site. The west trail will lead 2,000 feet downstream along the river, and both trails will include benches, picnic tables, rain shelters and strategic viewing points of the river.
Additional river frontage will be created on the east trail for fishing, he said. The site will also feature interpretive panels highlighting the river’s links to the Cherokee people who made the Hiwassee River their home until the tragic Trail of Tears in 1838.
“The blueway renovations and trails are the first phase of a master plan to connect the towns of Calhoun and Charleston with a series of trails and a greenway,” Bryan said.
Charleston is on the south side of the Hiwassee River, opposite Calhoun.
DUNLAP
The trails grant and opportunity grant, totaling $525,000, will help kick off a pump track park to be constructed on the former site of Dunlap’s original water source, town Mayor Dwain Land said by phone.
The goal for users of a pump track is to ride through a series of small hills, or “rollers,” and banked turns called “berms” without pedaling or braking, only relying on “pumping” the bike to maintain momentum throughout a closed circuit, according to the International Mountain Bicycling Association. Pump tracks help beginners and experts hone skills useful in all riding conditions and essential to mountain biking.
The pump track is centrally located and will have an apt historical feature, Land said.
“We’ve got a nice place right here in the middle of town for it,” Land said, “one block from city hall.”
The site is undisturbed, lush and grassy at the moment, Land said, and a piece from the original water operation is still there.
“What’s really unique about it,” Land said, “is it is where the original water supply for the city of Dunlap was. Nobody ever removed that pump, so I have the original pump, and it’s got the date on it and everything, when it was manufactured, all that.”
(READ MORE: Marker to be unveiled designating Hiwassee River as ‘blueway’)
For the current round of projects, the Grant Opportunity Fund awarded $6.8 million in matching dollars, according to state information on the grants. The Local Parks and Recreation Fund provides money to match local government investments for communities to purchase land for parks, natural areas, greenways and recreation facilities. The grant requires an equal match of funds.
The Recreational Trails Program is a federally funded, state-administered grant program that provides grant funding for land acquisition for trails, non-routine trail maintenance, trail construction, trail rehabilitation and trailhead support facilities, according to the state. The funds are distributed as an 80% grant with a 20% match based on the total project amount.
State Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner David Salyers said the grants are a smart investment in Tennessee’s communities, according to an agency statement.
“By partnering with the Department of Economic and Community Development,” he said, “we can better assist our rural communities and help them create outdoor spaces that will make a real difference in people’s daily lives.”
The funds put communities in a better position to develop needed projects, Deputy Gov. and state Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter said in the statement.
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“These funds will create meaningful opportunities for distressed communities by providing access to resources that might otherwise be out of reach,” McWhorter said. “We are grateful to partner with TDEC in helping bring these projects to fruition and furthering Gov. Bill Lee’s commitment to investing in and strengthening rural Tennessee.”
Other communities awarded funds in the grant release include Bolivar, Decatur County, Erwin, Haywood County, Knoxville, McMinnville, Milan, Mount Carmel, New Market, Newport, Parsons, Savannah, Selmer, Stanton, Sunbright and Unicoi County.
Contact Southeast Tennessee reporter Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.
This story was updated on Aug. 25 to correct the amount of funding in the headline.