POWNAL, Vt. — The town of Pownal has received a $375,000 state grant for a proposed pedestrian bridge across the Hoosic River to access a trail system on more than 700 acres to the west of the river. 

 

The project is based on the privately constructed suspension footbridge across the Hoosic at the Tourists resort in nearby North Adams, Mass., and was the only award made in Bennington County. 

 

The grant was announced by Gov. Phil Scott on Monday in Danville and is one of 24 projects receiving a total of $4.6 million Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative awards. The grant program, established in 2018, received 103 letters of interest for fiscal 2022, with 30 applicants requesting more than $21.5 million. The Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation is working to determine the best use of the remaining $550,687 for supporting Vermont communities in building their economies with outdoor recreation at the center. 

 

"Vermont's natural beauty, combined with outdoor recreation opportunities, are economic engines for our state and a driving force for why people visit and live in Vermont," said the governor in a press release. "These grants will help continue to connect trails to downtown centers, develop new recreation assets and promote all we have to offer."

 

The Pownal project is described as "creating better community access to a 700-plus acre recreation area and trail network by building trailhead parking and an informational kiosk, constructing a pedestrian bridge, installing trail blazes and maps for wayfinding, improving trails, and developing an ongoing trail management plan."

 

The property had been part of the former Pownal Tanning Co. that went bankrupt in 1988. The mill sat on the Hoosic River on Route 346 in North Pownal and was declared a Superfund site for cleanup in 1999. The town constructed a wastewater treatment facility on the old "lagoons" that had been used for the tannery's discharges and acquired the forestland on the west side of the river with the help of conservation organizations. 

 

For more information on VOREC and the VOREC Community Grant program, visit www.fpr.vermont.gov/vorec.