In April 1991 civic leaders in Johnstown unveiled an ambitious ‘‘Johnstown Heritage Devel-opment Plan’’ that was intended to be a blueprint for cultural tourism development and heritage preservation in Johnstown.
Those were heady days following the Johnstown Flood Centennial of 1989, which attracted hundreds of thousands of participants and nationwide media attention.
Then a local newspaper reporter covering the story, I remember flipping through page after page of proposals and illustrations for historic districts, museums and visitors centers, gateway parks, riverside walks and cafes, a fine-arts center, a hotel and conference center, and thinking, ‘‘Another plan full of pie-in-the-sky that’ll gather dust on a shelf.’’
Was I wrong. Almost 17 years later, the community has achieved quite a few of the goals contained in that plan — most of them through the guidance of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association.
There are six National Register Historic Districts, a Heritage Discovery Center, the Wager-Ritter House Museum, the Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, visitors’ centers at the Inclined Plane and Train Station, the Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center, Festival Park, a short trail along the Cone-maugh River and a pedestrian bridge over the Express-way to the Incline.
Late this spring JAHA expects to check off two more projects from that 1991 development plan: A children’s museum and a multimedia experience — showing how steel was made in Johnstown before the huge electric furnaces were shut down — both will open in the Heri-tage Discovery Center.
Johnstown deserves our region’s applause for persevering with its heritage-development vision over so many years. But there are other significant cultural and natural heritage developments coming in 2008.
Northern Somerset County will be receiving more attention as a paddle-sports venue now that Whitewater Park is open in the Stonycreek River adjacent to Greenhouse Park near Tire Hill. Whitewater Park’s artificial set of rapids, designed for kayakers, canoers and even inner-tubers, should be usable all summer.
New trails — and trail connections — continue to sprout regionwide.
This spring a 30-mile network of trails will open on the hillsides above Rays-town Lake near Hesston. The trail network will feature a series of loops des-igned for different activities and skill levels.
The National Park Service will open its New Portage Railroad Trail by early fall as a combination recreation and interpretative trail up the Allegheny Front within the Allegheny Portage Rail-road National Historic Site. Four miles of this trail from Dry Run Road to the Mule-shoe Bridge will be bike-able, but you’ll have to hike the remaining three miles from the bridge to the Lemon House.
Finally, after six years of effort, the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy is bridging the Conemaugh River this year and extending the West Penn Trail another mile into Blairsville. The project should be done late this fall.
Thanks to the faith, perseverance and hard work of visionary people and organizations within our region, 2008 should be a good year for heritage development.
Dave Hurst loves to hear from readers. You can write in care of the Altoona Mirror or through www.hurstmediaworks.com.
