By MIKE FAHER
JOHNSTOWN — It’s more than a sidewalk.
That was the message Friday from local officials as they dedicated the new, $400,000 Tech Park Riverwalk at the rear of Greater Johnstown Technology Park in the city’s Kernville neighborhood.
“Even though this Riverwalk is very short, it’s part of a bigger piece of the puzzle,” said Democratic state Sen. John Wozniak.
The 640-foot-long walkway, a project overseen by Johnstown Redevelopment Authority, winds along the concrete bank of the Stonycreek River. It includes new landscaping, lighting, benches, tables and safety railing.
At the most basic level, it is designed to complement the tech park, an office building that was erected on a site formerly occupied by the vacant Sani-Dairy facility.
“Today, this site looks entirely different than it did back then,” said Larry Olek of the Lee Foundation, which helped fund the project.
Ron Repak, redevelopment authority executive director, said the walkway project “was carefully planned to become integrated with the site layout, including sidewalks, trees and native vegetation.”
However, officials also see a larger purpose for the walkway.
Long-range plans call for adding more – and making better use of – the city’s “green” and open spaces.
And some have pushed to more fully integrate the city’s rivers with everyday life.
“This is just the beginning of the ‘greening’ of Johnstown,” Olek said. “And we will get there inch by inch.”
Officials say the walkway also complements downtown amenities and provides “linkage” for trails such as James Mayer Riverwalk and Cambria Iron Urban Greenway Trail.
The majority of the project’s funding came from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
“We really believe in the work that’s being done here in the Greater Johnstown area,” said Michael Piaskowski, a representative of the state conservation agency.
In addition to DCNR and the Lee Foundation, money came from Pittsburgh’s Richard King Mellon Foundation and Johnstown’s Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.
