The town of Skykomish held a ribbon-cutting event last week to celebrate the opening of the new Maloney Creek Trail.
The celebration, which took place on Friday, Oct. 24, was held near the trailhead which is located at the end of Thelma Street by the Skykomish Post Office. Among the attendees were Skykomish Mayor Tony Grider; Town Councilmember Henry Sladek; Skykomish Environmental Institute (SEI) Planning Director and Skykomish Trail Project Manager JoAnne Menard and Patrick Hogan from Congresswoman Suzan DelBene's office.
Other attendees included Skykomish Toot Sweet Candy Shop owner Debbie Koch; United States Forest Service Skykomish District Ranger Joe Neal and Trail Specialist Tom Davis; Washington State Department of Ecology Project Manager Brad Petrovich and numerous Skykomish residents.
Zach Strombaugh, a 15-year-old student at the Skykomish School, presented the town with two handcrafted wood benches during the event. Strombaugh designed and built the benches entirely on his own, utilizing the wood shop at the school, with materials furnished for him by Skykomish School Superintendent Martin Schmidt.
Strombaugh, along with the rest of the students from the Skykomish School, came over to walk the trail and participate in the celebration.
The new trail, which was constructed over the summer by Northwest Trails, is completely ADA accessible and just under a quarter-mile in length. It traverses east along Maloney Creek up to an outlook platform, and will eventually feature interpretive signage along the way.
"This is a very short trail but it's a great opportunity for the town of Skykomish,GÇ¥ said Mayor Grider. "With any luck at all it will bring tourists into our community and allow them to access the great opportunities we have out here for recreation.GÇ¥
The new Maloney Creek Trail comes on the heels of the town's massive environmental cleanup and subsequent Maloney Creek restoration project. The extensive oil cleanup process spanned over six years and has still not been entirely completed. Over 220,000 tons of contaminated soil were removed and a total of 100,000 gallons of oil were removed and recycled.
The new Maloney Creek Trail is part of a larger overall effort to infuse new life and commerce into the town. In 2013, the Great Northern and Cascade Railway opened up, which now serves as the centerpiece of the town. Located directly across the street from the Skykomish Library, the mini-railway features a scaled-down, fully-authentic live steam locomotive which carries up to 40 passengers around a half-mile course.
The train operates every weekend throughout the summer, and train enthusiasts are encouraged to bring their own locomotives and take them for a spin on the custom-built track.
Project Manager Kevin Weiderstrom has continued to add on to the landscape of the miniature railway, and this year constructed a scaled-down version of the
Cascade Tunnel.
Other improvements to the town area have included the renovated Maloney Store, which now houses the Skykomish Historical Society Museum, which reopened in April of this year. The Maloney Creek Trail is the most recent project meant to enhance and broaden the area's opportunities for recreational activities and tourism.
Although the trail project had actually been permitted for several years, there was never sufficient funding available for it to gather any momentum. Mayor Grider and Project Manager JoAnne Menard thanked Petrovich for helping to facilitate the trail construction via a source of funding that was available through the Washington State Department of Ecology.
"This trail is a real nice symbol of what the community is starting to look like,GÇ¥ said Petrovich. "I'm really happy to have helped out.GÇ¥
And while the trail has been largely a collaborative effort, it was Menard who really managed to get the ball rolling by formally selecting the trail project from one of numerous potential Skykomish projects. Menard has sought additional grant funding which will pay for the interpretive signage that will be planned during the winter months.
"This winter we'll be writing and designing the signs,GÇ¥ said Menard.
Menard and her husband owned a cabin on the Foss River for over 25 years before making the decision to move to Skykomish full time about four years ago. Around that time, former-Mayor Fred Black appointed her as the planning director of the Skykomish Environmental Institute, which she helped to develop and get off the ground.
Future phases of the Maloney Creek Trail project will include a children's nature-scape and learning center in the grassy area located to the south of the post office, adjacent to the trail head.
"And then of course there's all kinds of plans for extending the trails,GÇ¥ said Menard. "It's pretty cool!GÇ¥
For more information on the Skykomish Environmental Institute, please visit the website at: http://skykomishenvironmentalinstitute.org/. For more information on the town cleanup, please visit: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/brownfields/Presentations/The%20Cleanup%20and%20Restoration%20of%20Skykomish,%20Washington-_optmized.pdf.
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