Grand opening of mosaic trail, riverfront access celebrated in Natrona

Officials celebrated the grand opening of a mosaic trail off River Avenue in Natrona on Tuesday, saying it was the first step in a trifecta of upgrades that would transform the neighborhood.

The small concrete trail, 10 feet wide and 100 feet long, provides a critical connection for walkers, bikers and anglers to the Allegheny River.

At the same time, leaders lauded the repaving of Veterans Way and the funding secured for a new trailhead near the kayak launch just a few blocks away.

“This is how you grow the community,” said Bill Godfrey, president of advocacy group Natrona Comes Together. “This is how people talk and connect.”

Godfrey’s group teamed with nonprofit Friends of the Riverfront, the Harrison commissioners and state Sen. Lindsey Williams to see the trail through seven years of planning and construction.

Friends of the Riverfront will manage the short trail, which leaders said is a meaningful connector in the larger, 33-mile Three Rivers Heritage Trail that extends from Pittsburgh on both sides of the river.

The cost of the project was $45,000, funded through more than a dozen community stakeholders. Harrison Commissioner Chuck Dizard thanked ATI and the Port of Pitt Commission, a group that promotes the development of inland waterways, for their hefty support.

“I’m so excited for Natrona,” Harrison Commissioner Jamie Nee said. “I see a lot of great things happening, and we’ll keep on working.”

The walkway fence is lined with 13 colorful mosaics. They were designed by Pittsburgh artist Stevo Sadvary and assembled by community members with thousands of pieces of broken glass.

There are beaver, blue heron and butterfly milkweed mosaics, among others that represent birds, flowers and wildlife native to the Allegheny River Valley.

“It was a great pleasure to do this public art, especially with help from the public,” Sadvary said.

He thanked the Grable Foundation and PNC Cultural Trust for grants along the way.

Williams said she was thrilled with the state money that was used to expand access to trails and rivers. She was part of the group that participated in the mosaic-making prior to the unveiling.

“If the art is good, it’s mine,” she joked.

Small but mighty is how many in the group described the trail. Before its construction, people had to double-back to the kayak launch a few blocks away for access to the shoreline.

Dizard believed in the project so much that several years ago he bought the land where the trail now sits, making it possible to open the property and provide a throughway.

“I’m so excited about what was created,” he said. “It is a small piece of what we hope will grow into a much larger amenity.”