DEVELOPING TREND
Connellsville trades coal for bicycles in bid for economic rebirth
Asmall city in Fayette County is on track for millions of dollars in new development as tourism pushes aside a coal mining past that left empty storefronts and a declining population in its wake.
The City of Connellsville, a 2.3square-mile town 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, is getting a new microbrewery, events center and other amenities this year, with plans for more overnight places to stay — new condominiums are even a possibility — along the Great Allegheny Passage that runs through the west side of town. Mayor Greg Lincoln said the potential value of new development could range between $50 million and $75 million, the biggest economic boost in years.
“Our west side of the city is going to go through a major boom,” Mr. Lincoln said. “It’s going to be a total game changer.”
The GAP, a bicycle trail stretching through Connellsville on a 150-mile trip between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Md., is spurring Connellsville’s economic revitalization, which is focusing on tourism dollars generated by outdoor recreation. An estimated 100,000 bicyclists pedal through the city every year during the warm months, Mr. Lincoln said, and developers have begun to see dollar signs in those numbers.
“They have been the saviors of our town, basically,” Mr. Lincoln said about bicyclists.
A May or June groundbreaking is planned for a microbrewery on a vacant lot near the city’s Yough River Park, Connellsville developer Kevin Leonard said. Last year, Mr. Leonard received a $500,000 state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program Grant through the city to help defray construction costs of a “micro resort” he is planning on the trail.
Farther up the trail, behind St. Rita’s Roman Catholic Church, Mr. Leonard recently acquired 11.5 acres on which four condominiums are planned as a second phase, he said. He’s also planning to open two Airbnbs in the coming weeks, with plans for more in the future.
“We are slowly, piece by piece, cleaning up the city,” said Mr. Leonard, a Latrobe native. “We’re trying to get people to stay in Connellsville for more than a day.”
Across from Mr. Leonard’s planned microbrewery is a 54-room Comfort Inn, which recently acquired land next to the hotel for a 10,000-square-foot restaurant and events center along the
Youghiogheny River, said Nate Morgan, hotel owner and founder and CEO of Oakland-based real estate company NRM Capital. The venue, which will accommodate up to 225 guests, will feature a deck over the riverbank.
Groundbreaking is expected in May or June, Mr. Morgan said.
Other projects in the works to attract tourists to Connellsville, population about 7,000, include the Iron Horse Bridge Park, which would convert and widen an abandoned rail bridge over the Yough River north of downtown into a park and events site. Early designs call for solar-powered lights to illuminate the bridge.
The Fay-Penn Economic Council in February applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a $3.2 million planning and design grant for the park.
A decision on the application is expected by late June, Mr. Lincoln said, and if granted, the city will apply for a $25 million grant to develop the park. The bridge would link the city to Connellsville Township, adding looping bikeways through the city’s downtown, and ultimately connecting to the GAP and other bike trails, including the Sheepskin Trail, which will eventually reach Parkersburg, W.Va.
If fully realized, Connellsville would become the “Breezewood of the trail system,” Mr. Lincoln told about 100 people who attended a public meeting on the project in January, referring to the crowded Bedford County highway interchange gateway where the Pennsylvania Turnpike, U.S. Route 30 and Interstate 70 come together. “The sky’s the limit after that,” he said. Other projects in store for Connellsville include the redevelopment of a 24,500 -square-foot strip mall off Route 119 to include medical offices, and construction of up to 62 single and duplex houses to replace Gibson Terrace, a low-income housing project built in 1943 on South Arch Street.
A 30,000-square-foot Excela Health outpatient center, located in a Vanderbilt Road strip mall in Connellsville and valued at $14 million, is scheduled for completion in the fall. In January, Greensburgbased Excela Health merged with Butler Health System.
Other cities have capitalized on bicycling and outdoor recreation to drive the local economy, including Xenia, a former rail center in southwestern Ohio, 15 miles from Dayton, population about 27,000. Ohio’s Miami Valley, where Xenia is located, has more than 330 miles of paved trails connecting 10 counties.
“We’ve literally seen people from all over the world,” Xenia City Manager Brent Merriman said.
Tourismin surrounding Greene County, Ohio, generated $877.6 million in 2019, including $204.4 million in wages, according to the Greene County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Tourism dollars haven’t been the only benefit: Amenities for biking and outdoor recreation are also quality-of-life selling points for businesses considering relocation, Mr. Merriman said.
“I don’t know that we’ve fully appreciated the impact it’s had,” he said, adding that bicyclists also support local restaurants and gift shops. “We’re very mindful to cater to the trail crowd. They will spend additional dollars for a nice place to eat and a good place to stay.”