Saturday’s dedication of a new hiking and biking trail south of Iola included a lesson on the value of perseverance.
John McRae, former Iola mayor and on the board of Iola Industries, told a gathering of about 125 that when the Lehigh Portland cement plant south of Iola closed almost 50 years ago, local officials struggled to find a suitable replacement not only in terms of jobs lost but also as a site.
Eventually, Gates Corporation was built on one portion of the land, with other smaller industries scattered about, including D of K Vaults and T&E Company.
But a large swath of the land was considered pretty much inaccessible because of its hilly terrain, and “we wondered what could possibly happen to it that would be good,” McRae said of Iola Industries, which owns the land.
For more than 40 years, “there was nothing,” in terms of interest or viable ideas.
And then along came Thrive Allen County two years ago, with an idea.
The wooded terrain carried value in that it had a spectacular view of Elm Creek and the nearby Elks Lake (formerly the Lehigh quarry.)
After two years of almost non-stop work — almost all by volunteers — the former piece of seemingly useless property has been converted into one of the state’s pre-eminent hiking and biking trails, the Lehigh Portland Trail system, featuring 7 miles of single-track or limestone-crushed surface suitable for users of all ages and skill sets.
The trail complex was unveiled officially to the community Saturday. A crowd gathered for opening remarks from David Toland, Thrive executive director, Allen County Commissioner Jerry Daniels, McRae and Mike Goodwin of the Kansas Trails Council.
They also were on hand for a ribbon-cutting on the former Sinclair-Hegwald bridge, which was relocated from Owl Creek west of Humboldt to the trail, and placed earlier this spring.
“We’re learning that there are new ways to address economic development,” McRae said. “This is certainly one of them. It’s good for Iola and will bring folks to town who would probably have never come.”
TOLAND lauded the volunteers who made it happen, starting “with the guy who was out on parole and needed community service time. He was the one who cut the first part of the trail, the first 100 yards.”
Others, including students from the University of Kansas, Iolan Jeff Dieker, Tim McDermeit, Ryan Sparks and Job Springer helped with the early stages.
Lorenzo Jensen of J&J Construction, Joe Works of B&W Trailer Hitches and others from Nelson Quarries, Payless Concrete and Monarch Cement all played vital roles as well, Toland said.
