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Pickens park construction starts

Courtesy Photo

Work has started to bring a state-of-the-art bicycle riding facility to Pickens’ Town Creek Park.

PICKENS — Construction has started to revitalize Pickens’ Town Creek Park.

On Monday, crews from J Davis Construction began their work at the park under the supervision of the city’s engineer, Darrohn Engineering. In addition, Elevated Trail Design will assist with installation of bike-specific riding features.

The park’s Playground of Promise, tennis courts and Town Creek Trail willbe closed from construction until April 18, while the lower recreation center parking lot will also be closed until fall. The entire master plan for the project will take several years to complete, but can be viewed at the recreation center and towncreekpark.com.

Major features of the project include: 3,000 linear feet of new dirt on a single-track trail for hikers and bikers; a paved 8-foot wide greenway called the “Appalachian Lumber Greenway,” which will follow most of the existing trail along the historic Appalachian Lumber Company railroad route and provide a multi-use and ADA compliant path between the recreation center and the playground; a new 70-foot span recycled steel bridge over a tributary of Town Creek; a 3,700-foot Flow Coaster Bike Track designed by Ride Garden — a wooden and earthen track with balance beams, dirt jumps, earthen rollers and wooden banked turns in a continuous loop intended for both beginner and advanced riders; a pump track — small loop circuit constructed of earthen riding features with hips, roller sets and an earthen bowl at one end of the track; and signage and map boards installed at each trail head.

The total construction budget is $765,000. The city received a $400,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission and a $100,000 grant from the S.C. Recreational Trails Program. The city put in cash match from the hospitality tax account, which is restricted by state law to only be used on tourism-related activities.

The vision of the park is to be a state-of-the-art riding facility which draws riders of all levels from across the Southeast. Construction will be completed on the Appalachian Lumber Greenway by July 1, and the rest of the construction will be completed in Fall 2014.