113 replies to this topic

[growingup15]

krazeeboi, on 01 September 2008 - 10:14 AM, said:

A few shots of the riverwalk extension beside City Club:













A little bit of graffiti thrown in:

Beautiful Graffiti! i think the City should open up some artist in the city that does graffiti and make a wall for them to Draw freely! i would even do some myself! I Will represent!

[krazeeboi]

It appears as though there is a proposal to turn the abandoned Seaboard Airlines railroad bed into a 0.9 mile pedestrian greenway that will be part of a larger trail system. The trail head will be at the Elmwood overpass and will terminate at the tunnel at Lady Street. Sounds like a great way to reuse the abandoned railway.

[mr.chips]

krazeeboi, on 05 December 2010 - 06:03 PM, said:

It appears as though there is a proposal to turn the abandoned Seaboard Airlines railroad bed into a 0.9 mile pedestrian greenway that will be part of a larger trail system. The trail head will be at the Elmwood overpass and will terminate at the tunnel at Lady Street. Sounds like a great way to reuse the abandoned railway.

That would be fabulous - and while we are at it let's get rid of all the railroads that go through the middle of town and turn the railbeds into trails and future mass transit arteries! It is ridiculous to have trains stop traffic on Assembly and not to be able to use all those acres of land between USC and Olympia. I know that this is wishful thinking, but we need real leadership in our city that would deal with things like this. By the way, who/what exactly is the Vista Greenway Committee?

[CorgiMatt]

I watched the 12/8/10 City Council meeting on Channel 2 and they voted unanimously for the .9-mile walkway from Elmwood Avenue to Lady Street.  It will be paved and landscaped with lighting in the tunnels.  They sounded as though it's shovel-ready.

Edited by CorgiMatt, 13 December 2010 - 07:48 AM.

[growingup15]

CorgiMatt, on 13 December 2010 - 07:47 AM, said:

I watched the 12/8/10 City Council meeting on Channel 2 and they voted unanimously for the .9-mile walkway from Elmwood Avenue to Lady Street.  It will be paved and landscaped with lighting in the tunnels.  They sounded as though it's shovel-ready.

Wow thats good.

wel i can scratch my plans i wanted for that area! for good now . it probably wouldnt of worked anyway.

[krazeeboi]

Here's a great piece about the future of the greenway, particularly on the Columbia side.

One thing that I did not know was that money that was supposed to go towards completing the greenway on the Columbia side of the river was spent instead on the Esplanade at CanalSide and CanlFront, the new addition to EdVenture museum which faces the river. I have to say, that was a big misplacement of priorities under Coble's watch. While I'm not against the projects that did happen, they should have taken a back seat to those projects which would have sped up the development of the greenway on the Columbia side of the river. The Esplanade in particular could have waited until around the time the next phase of CanalSide is built. As of now, it's really pretty but also a bit isolated and probably underused since the critical mass in population doesn't yet exist at CanalSide.

[krazeeboi]

I changed the title of this thread to include a rails to trails initiative that's been proposed for the downtown area. The 0.9 mile stretch of abandoned railway from Lady to Elmwood would be the first leg of the trail. The great thing about the trail system is that it's being proposed by downtown residents. Although the city owns the railbed where the path will run, the neighborhoods didn’t start by asking the city to pay for the trail. Instead, the neighborhood group has taken the lead on planning and fundraising, and it’ll be applying for grants; already, it’s seeking a $100,000 grant through the state Parks, Recreation and Tourism agency. It’s also been granted $50,000 in hospitality tax funding and it’s open to other partners. The good thing about this is that it frees up city council to continue focusing on the Three Rivers Greenway while the neighborhood group focuses its efforts on the trail system. Cliff Spann, president of the Arsenal Hill Neighborhood Association, says he’d eventually like to see a bike path along the entire stretch of rail, which runs from the spillway at Riverfront Park all the way up to the Drew Wellness Center.

I think this trail system should take some pages from Greensboro's downtown greenway loop (the first, maybe only, city in NC to have one) which includes public art as a significant feature.

[johnpro318]

krazeeboi, on 30 December 2010 - 07:00 AM, said:

I think this trail system should take some pages from Greensboro's downtown greenway loop (the first, maybe only, city in NC to have one) which includes public art as a significant feature.

Greensboro definitely has the right idea. What would be the easiest way to connect this project with the existing Three Rivers Greenway? I think Columbia should use this time to spruce up Finley Park a little bit, specifically on the Gadsen Street side where this trail would spill into.

[krazeeboi]

The State has a piece about the rails to trails project that would connect Elmwood Park to the Vista. Nothing really new, just an overview of the project.

[GvilleSC]

krazeeboi, on 16 August 2005 - 03:26 PM, said:

The Salvation Army of Columbia has raised about $2 million to help land an $80 million grant to build a Kroc Center, which is an education, community and recreation center, on the Three Rivers Greenway.

Seems as though the community has been really generous in this effort, as the effort was only announced a month ago.

Most communities begin fund-raising after their grant has received preliminary approval. Showing the financial support of the community upfront could help the city�s chances in landing the grant.

In this regard, Columbia is ahead of Greenville in its fundraising efforts. Greenville has been awarded a Kroc Center grant, but has not yet raised its first million.

Salvation Army officials envision a 100,000-square-foot recreation and community center at a location on the Congaree River that would house programs such as boating, swimming, music, art, health care and day care. The facility would not be a shelter or feeding center for the homeless, the Salvation Army�s traditional role in Columbia.

Access entire article here.

Here's a list of programs that would move to the center if it is built.

I ran across this from a google search, and was curious how Columbia's status on a Kroc Center stood? Greenville raised its funds and is anxiously awaiting the grand opening of the new center.

[CorgiMatt]

I'd call the Salvation Army of Columbia.

[krazeeboi]

I guess the Salvation Army of Columbia didn't get the grant since it's going on 6 years since the quoted article was published. That would be the most reasonable guess.

[krazeeboi]

A good case is laid out for finishing the Three Rivers Greenway system in this editorial in the Columbia Regional Business Report. The two most significant missing parts are about a mile of trail around the Riverbanks Zoo, and a footbridge across the Broad River to get hikers and cyclists from the east bank of the Congaree River to the east bank of the Saluda River. Mike Dawson, director of the River Alliance, said the section around the zoo could be built relatively quickly. It just needs money. Dawson estimated that the greenway section around the zoo could be completed for about $1 million. A footbridge across the Broad River is a bigger challenge. So far, there has been no engineering and design work done on such a project, and the cost and difficulty is anybody’s guess at this time, Dawson said.

Ann Timberlake, executive director of the League of Conservation Voters, urged the group to insist that the Three Rivers Greenway connect directly with downtown Columbia. Dawson responded that redeveloping Rocky Branch Creek as a greenway would provide unfettered trail access from Five Points to the Congaree River.

[CorgiMatt]

I already emailed the mayor and my council reps, and a shouted in all caps on Cameron Runyan's Facebook page (in case he's elected) to finish the greenway.  Mr. Runyon 'liked' my comment.  Mayor Benjamin has said several times it is one of his priorities.