Gaston County Offers an Abundance of Green Space
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Although Gaston County doesn’t lack for parks, trails and other green spaces, it’s soon to offer much, much more to outdoor enthusiasts.
The county and its municipalities already boast such well-known spots as Crowders Mountain State Park, Martha Rivers Park and George Poston Park, and soon Gaston will join York as one of two pilot counties for the Carolina Thread Trail Project.
That endeavor – which will link 15 counties and more than 2 million people at its completion – will tie Gaston County into a network that will include more than 40 destinations and 7,300 square miles in 15 counties across the state. The county received $50,000 in grant money from the project, which is being used to hire consultants to complete the local mapping process.
The Carolina Thread Trail is the latest coup for a county whose population already places a high value on natural spaces, says Donna Lockett, executive director of Gaston Together.
“Gastonia has a greenway, and the Connect Gaston group really led the charge on that,” Lockett says. “They’ve got a master greenway plan. Cramerton has a segment of their greenway in place, and Cherryville has funding in place for their first one. And Belmont has put a land-use plan in place that calls for trails and greenways.”
Because of its location along the Catawba River and its existing park structure, Gaston County has always been known as a recreational spot. The Carolina Thread Trail will cement that reputation, Lockett says.
“We’re very excited to be one of the pilot counties and be a part of this initial push,” she says. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm for greenways and trails already here in the county, and greenways activity is a part of the Gaston 2012 process, our 10-year economic development plan, so this really fits in.”
On a smaller but equally ambitious scale is the greenway work in Mount Holly, which had a model greenway design constructed more than a year ago. The final design was presented to the Mount Holly Community Development Foundation and the city council in January 2008, and the various entities are now working to raise funds for the next step, says Ann Danzi, past chairman of the foundation.
“We do not have a greenway in Mount Holly, so this is a beginning,” Danzi says. “The plan is to go from the YMCA all the way up to the Mountain Island Dam along the Catawba River, and with the first stage going from Tuckaseege Park up to Route 27. The city staff is working to get us the easements along that area.”
In addition to the greenway design, Chuck Flink of Durham’s Greenways Inc. also put together a green print for the city, which locates other parks around town, both existing and suitable spots for new ones, with connectors to the greenway mapped into the total design.
“Our final goal is to have all the communities in Mount Holly connected to a greenway,” Danzi says. “Several years ago we went through a visioning process, and one idea that came out on top was a greenway and parks. That’s a consistent item for any quality-of-life list for Mount Holly.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Todd Bennett
