Community Development Corporation receives $4.5M to expand Great Guernsey Trail

CAMBRIDGE — The Great Guernsey Trail will expand from 7 to 10 miles thanks to a $4.5 million Appalachian Community Grant awarded to the Guernsey County Community Development Corporation.“I’ve always wanted to make our trail longer, and I felt taking it west to downtown Cambridge was the most logical conclusion,” said Ron Gombeda, executive director of the Guernsey County CDC, who will be leading the expansion. “We’re connecting centers of population including Lore City, Kipling and East Cambridge with a large center of population — downtown Cambridge.”The current trail is flat, paved, and 7 miles long, connecting Lore City to East Cambridge. It sees 20,000 visitors annually, 7,000 of which are local and use the trail regularly, while 13,000 are unique visitors deemed to be out-of-towners, and most of them from outside Ohio, according to Gombeda, who said the numbers come from a commissioned report.“Every city is looking at ways to diversify income; tourism is part of that,” said Gombeda of the importance of those unique visitors, and why building on those numbers will enhance economic development for Cambridge and Guernsey County. “When they come here, they spend money. People that spend the night (in Guernsey County) spend over $300 during their stay. People who come for the day spend $140.”

Economic development in Appalachia is exactly what the Appalachian Community Grant Program was created for. It was instituted in 2022 by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik in conjunction with the Ohio General Assembly.The overall program funneled $500 million into Ohio’s 32-county Appalachian region to transform these communities through economic development projects. Competition for the grants was stiff, to the tune of more than $5 billion in grant requests, according to the Ohio Department of Development office.“We were very fortunate to receive any grant money,” said Gombeda of the unprecedented competition for funds. “There is so much need in Appalachia.”The project will extend the Great Guernsey Trail more than three miles into downtown Cambridge with a trailhead at the corner of Southgate Parkway and Turner Avenue. New trail construction will include improved sidewalks and intersections, as well as improve and build upon the streetscapes within the city of Cambridge. It's a makeover befitting what has been deemed a National Recreation Trail by the United States Secretary of Interior.“It’s hard to get that designation,” said Gombeda. “We were fortunate to have achieved it.”National Recreation Trails (NRTs) are designated to promote some of the country’s highest-caliber trails “with the intention of providing recreation access to rural and urban communities, economic development through tourism, and healthy recreation opportunities,” according to the National Park Services website.There are nearly 1,300 of these trails designated in all 50 states.“We don’t do typical economic development, what we do is focus on quality of life,” said Gombeda. “So, we focus on what families can do when they come here. Schools, parks, playgrounds. The more you can show (families and companies) that it’s a great place to live and work, the more you give them a reason to locate to your county.”While the trail work is in process, Gombeda will be looking developing the land around the trail.“Not only are we connecting the trail, but we own a lot of the land adjacent to the trail,” said Gombeda. “We’re adding unimproved, off-trail trails to add more for people to see and do.”The Great Guernsey Trail is open to walkers, runners, skateboarders, and bicyclists. Parking and restroom facilities are located at 63500 Corduroy Road in Cambridge and at Leatherwood Park, 205 Main St., in Lore City.Learn more at https://visitguernseycounty.com/things-to-do/great-guernsey-trail/.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: $4.5M grant will fund three-mile extension of Great Guernsey Trail