Unlocking Armstrong County: River Journey Continues
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
19 September 2014
The longest journey for the Allegheny River Development Corp. is
over. After two years of trying, the group successfully negotiated
a sea of federal red tape and won approval that allows it to use
private funds to pay for operation of the river locks in Armstrong
County. It would be great to be able to say that the hard part is
behind the ARDC. Unfortunately, we're not certain that is the
case.
Opening the locks will take money — an estimated $150,000 will
have to be raised each year. Pontoon raffles and other small-time
fundraisers are not going to get it done.
The ARDC is going to have to ramp up its fundraising efforts —
specifically targeting business interests that can afford to throw
more than $20 a pop into the donation pot. It may not be that hard
a sell, given the clear economic impact opening the locks should
have when boaters are able to venture into our area to spend their
dollars.
But there are other problems to navigate even if fundraising is
successful. Boaters who went through the locks this summer
complained that the condition of the locks made the trip slow
going. The federal government has to make a commitment to maintain
the locks to keep trips on the Upper Allegheny attractive for
boaters.
That, however, is a problem to be addressed later. Now the effort
must be on developing a revenue stream that will be consistently
available to keep the locks open from year to year. It won't be
easy, but neither was the journey that got us to this point.
Read more: http://triblive.com/opinion/editorials/6805992-74/locks-journey-river#ixzz3Dshd2d3K