By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
Tucked next to the Salina Family YMCA, the Friends of the River Foundation celebrated the opening of a one-half-mile concrete walking path during the chilly morning hours on Saturday, Oct. 28.
More than 30 community members visited the ribbon cutting Saturday, wearing gloves, hats and thick winter coats to experience the newly-opened trail.
The Salina Area Chamber of Commerce supported the project through communication and helped facilitate and promote the ribbon-cutting event.
"This trail is the first construction project of many to come in the near future," said Friends of the River Foundation executive director Jane Anderson. "(It) allows the public to have a beginning glimpse of what the Smoky Hill River Renewal Project could bring to this community."
LISTEN: Jane Anderson gives a Friends of a River Update
According to the Salina City Engineer Dan Stack, the 10-foot-wide walking path can support vehicles and other heavy machinery, too, for various repairs or projects that come up in the future.
The half-mile path is only the beginning of the project, where Stack said there is still more to go.
"We've got about 900 feet to go for the end over on Ohio, so that is next year's project," Stack said. "We're really close to getting that designed and the property for that to keep it going."
After Friends of the River Foundation board members and other supporters of the project cut the ribbon, attendees visited booths with various facts about the river and the supporters behind the project.
Friends of the River Foundation also offered t-shirts for sale to help continue supporting the project.
"It's one of those things people have been asking you about for a long time, so it's really nice to have a visible start to this project," said Salina Family YMCA president and CEO Angie Lassley. "There's a lot going on behind the scenes that are visible sort of progress."
Salina Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Renee Duxler said the Chamber helped support the project through advocacy, promoting the project during legislative sessions and spreading the word to the community.
"We always want to celebrate projects that spur economic development and create jobs," Duxler said. "In this case, it also improves the quality of life for the community as well as elevating public health, mental health, and community connectivity, and those are all things that the Chamber supports."
