River Town Program Option for Fairmont
Assists in developing outdoor recreation as economic-growth tool
Times West Virginian
31 October 2013
By Debra Minor Wilson
FAIRMONT — Imagine towns along the Monongahela River connecting to
promote their unique outdoor recreation opportunities. Fairmont
has that chance, if it joins Morgantown, Granville and Star City
in the West Virginia River Town Program. Begun in Pennsylvania,
the River Town Program is based on a cooperative, collaborative
approach that builds closer connections between communities and
their riverfronts as a significant asset with the potential for
attracting visitors, business and economic revival. Dr. Steve
Selin, state director and professor of Recreation, Parks and
Tourism Resources, Division of Forestry and Natural Resources,
gave a PowerPoint presentation on the program to the Marion County
Commission at its weekly meeting Wednesday. This program, begun in
Pennsylvania, is an asset-based community-development initiative
that assists towns along navigable rivers to develop outdoor
recreation as an alternative way of economic growth. “It begins
here,” said commission President Randy Elliott, referring to
Marion County as the birthplace of the Mon, at the confluence of
the Tygart and West Fork rivers. With the cost underwritten by the
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, there is no cost to the
program, “other than the interest and willingness to ... work
together,” Selin said. The program began in Pennsylvania as a
regional economic-development program geared to building a
stronger connection between the river and its communities by
promoting the river as a recreational and economical asset.
Fairmont “is a good fit” with the regional program, he said. The
goal is to attract visitors, assist new business opportunities,
and take advantage of the Mon as an economic and outdoor
recreation asset. Nearby Point Marion is among the five original
River Town Mon River communities in Pennsylvania.
The program does not create new plans, he said. “We take existing
plans and see how we can move them forward. We figure out where
you are in terms of riverfront development and how we can work
together.” After the community is assessed, action teams form and
identify short-, mid- and long-term projects. The program unifies
towns along the Mon to enhance their riverfront properties to
attract visitors and make their communities more livable.
Improving public access, enhancing visitor safety, growing
riverside businesses, supporting public art and entertainment, and
diversifying active outdoor recreation opportunities are shared
goals driving this resurgence. Selin said the program is working
with the Upper Mon River Association in support of keeping the
locks open between Fairmont and Morgantown. “This is a significant
issue,” he said. But by working together, rather than one by one,
River Towns have a better chance of influencing the Army Corps of
Engineers into keeping the locks open, he noted. Elliott liked
this aspect. “I understand the loss of industrial traffic that
used the locks,” he said, “but we can replace that with a lot of
people in Bass Master Classics, maybe a tournament every week.”
The next step is for the commission to decide if it wants to hook
up with the program, Elliott said. “The next step is for us to
look at all it has to offer, to see if we want to join forces with
them to help us plan and promote,” he said. He said once that’s
done, the program needs to be put on the commission’s agenda for a
vote. “It brings positive exposure in the outlying areas that we
are developing our riverfront,” Elliott said. “When riverfront
people come through this way, they’ll know we have (development),
stop and enjoy what we’re putting together. “This can only help us
attract more people to Fairmont and Marion County.” The commission
will meet in regular session at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, in Room
403, J. Harper Meredith Building, Fairmont.
Email Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@timeswv.com.