Brow Park Trail Study Underway

The Alabama Tourism Department has launched the “Year of Alabama Trails,” a two-year campaign to celebrate the many outdoor activities our state has to offer. We are particularly blessed in our corner of the state with an abundance of quality trails, particularly in DeSoto State Park and the Little River Canyon National Preserve.

Trails make nature more accessible to people of all ages. They make us appreciate the creation that surrounds us, unplugging us from our daily hectic lives and plugging us into the natural world. They help us preserve the great outdoors for our kids, our grandkids, and future generations.

For a town like Mentone, trails are also an economic driver. People choose to visit and live here for many reasons, including our vibrant arts scenes, great shops and galleries, summer camps, and some of the best restaurants in the region. But our main draw is the abundance of outdoor recreational opportunities.

The Town of Mentone is considering a Brow Park improvement project that ties into all the reasons behind the Year of Alabama Trails promotion. It would give local citizens and visitors alike another opportunity to explore the beauty of our town.

Jared Carter, the executive director of North Alabama Trails and Recreation, has visited Brow Park and put together a plan to clear and clean the adjacent shelf. His organization would fund part of the project and work with the Alabama Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils to secure the remainder of needed funds. This would be the beginning stages of developing trails that go below the park on the side of the mountain, offering incredible views and a hiking experience unlike any other.

Carter’s group would also help us apply for grants for the actual construction of the trails. You may remember that Kenneth Boswell, director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, visited Mentone last year to see the work we’re doing at the Moon Lake campus. While here, he asked to visit Brow Park to learn more about potential trail development. Director Boswell and his staff were intrigued by the idea because they understand the economic importance of outdoor recreation. ADECA will be a valuable partner if we move forward with this trail.

As for next steps, Carter will visit Mentone soon to discuss the project in detail with the town council.

At Moon Lake, the gym is getting a significant upgrade with the installation of a new heating and cooling system. As we saw with the Groundhog Day Community Celebration in February, the gym can be used for more community activities — but not with an outdated and broken HVAC system. The old system was terribly inefficient, costing us way too much money to operate. A few weeks ago, it failed completely. We awarded the bid for a new system to Watkins Heating and Cooling, which has experience installing similar units in DeKalb County School System buildings.

Best of all, this project is being funded by money raised from the Mentone Fall Festival. The town received approximately $38,000 from the festival last year. Since taking responsibility for coordinating this event, we have invested the money raised back into Moon Lake, the site of the festival. It’s a great way to continue supporting one of Mentone’s most important assets.

We are in the process of choosing an architect for the renovation project at Moon Lake, which is being funded in part by an Appalachian Regional Commission grant administered through Boswell and his team at ADECA.

Look for crews to begin the final phase of our sidewalk project before the end of May. It will extend from Dempsey Avenue to Moon Lake Library and include a crosswalk. Combined with the first phase, which runs from downtown to Dempsey Avenue, our total sidewalk length will be approximately 1.5 miles. We see heavy use of the existing sidewalk by residents and visitors alike, and believe that will increase significantly when the second phase is opened.