Trail towns poised to capitalize on increasing access, popularity of rails-to-trails
Lauren Edinger and her husband, Edd Velez, whitewashed an antique tin ceiling in their future ice cream and sandwich shop in the former J.H. Shoop & Sons building in Freeport.
The repurposing of the century-plus-old retail building — home to one of the oldest family-owned men’s clothing stores in the country when it closed in 2005 after 175 years — is part of the renaissance of businesses in the riverside borough.
“The trails are huge,” Edinger said. “(They are) going to bring a lot of people into the area.”
Freeport is fast becoming a trail hub where three rails-to-trails meet or will meet in the future. Freeport already is home to part of the 21-mile-long Butler-Freeport Community Trail. By late next year, the town will connect to a total of 120 miles of trails, including the new Kiski Junction Railroad segment of the Armstrong Trails, and then to Redbank Valley Trails to Forest County. Ultimately, Freeport will connect to the Three Rivers Heritage Trail in Pittsburgh and other trails.
There are steel towns, coal towns, river towns and now trail towns. These are communities reinvigorated by trail tourism. On bike or on foot, outdoors lovers spend money on bottles of water, craft beer, coffee, overnight accommodations, meals and more, said Chris Ziegler, executive director of the Armstrong Trails and trail council president of the Butler-Freeport trail.
“I’m jealous of Freeport residents,” Ziegler said. “They can walk out the door and not use the same trail.”
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David Kahley is president and CEO of The Progress Fund, which provides loans to trail town businesses from its offices in Greensburg and Pittsburgh. Kahley likens their success to the impact craft breweries have had on quaint communities.
“It’s the Disney and Las Vegas theory of retail. The longer you get them sticking around, they will stay and spend the money happily,” Kahley said. “We’re just in the infancy of trail development and opportunity for the region.”
The Progress Fund has given loans to more than 100 businesses in the region. The nonprofit was formed about 25 years ago to help small businesses that cater to outdoor recreation, “which was pretty much ignored by traditional economic development strategists back then,” Kahley said.
The loan program took off.
“If someone needs a loan for a bike shop, we’re all over it,” he said. “Bike shops, B&Bs and wineries are popular businesses.”
Connellsville: Trail town along the GAP
More than 85,000 people annually pass through Connellsville in Fayette County while traveling the 150-mile off-road Great Allegheny Passage.
“We were the coal and coke capital of the world,” said Vern Ohler, city clerk for Connellsville. “Now we’re a tourist town.”
It’s because a trail runs through it: The GAP — spanning from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md. — is a destination for cyclists. In the past 11 years, Connellsville has counted among its visitors cyclists and walkers from 24 countries and 49 states, Ohler said.
The town has restaurants, supplies and a 54-room Comfort Inn built five years ago specifically to cater to trail tourists. From April to early November, the majority of the hotel’s business comes from bike groups or individuals using the trail, said Cheryl Babbit, the hotel’s general manager.
“Some like to make Connellsville as a start and end point,” she said, “because we are only 17 miles from Ohiopyle along the GAP.”
Some visitors are taking the long journey on the GAP, while others might do a couple of days out and back.
“People come here and ask, ‘Where can we eat? Where’s the Dollar Store? Where can I get a bottle of wine?’ ” Babbit said.
The hotel serves as a linchpin for other businesses, she said. It offers free bike storage, a bike-washing station, tire pumps and bike tools, and wooden floors for visitors to bring their bikes into their rooms.
Freeport: Trail town
The 1833 Coffee and Tea Co. already welcomes cyclists stopping for its signature specialty brews. There’s the craft brewery, Essential Fermentation, at the ready, as well as other businesses.
In addition to their upcoming ice cream shop, Edinger and Velez own the Brickyard Freeport, formerly Lucy’s Riverside Cafe, which the couple bought last year.
Between the trails and the town’s courtesy visitor docks, more visitors are frequenting the riverside town, especially in the summer, Edinger said.
She plans to install bike racks for visitors from the trail as well as grab-and-go meals and water bowls for dogs.
The couple had plans for the ice cream shop before the town’s second trail, the connection to the Armstrong Trails, was announced last year. Freeport is working on signage to bring those new trail users into town.
“Freeport is more than just a town you drive through on your way to somewhere else,” Edinger said.
The proliferation of businesses continues to draw people, giving Freeport more of a hometown vibe.
“It feels like Saxonburg,” Edinger said. “You can walk around and spend your day there.”
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