Hattiesburg's outdoor recreation will get a little greener with Gordon's Creek trails

Hattiesburg has seen significant growth in recent years, and that includes the addition of recreational opportunities that add to the ambiance of living in the Hub City.

During a news conference Monday, Mayor Toby Barker announced the city would be investing roughly $3 million in creating walking trails along Gordon's Creek.

More than $2 million of the funds will come from a grant from the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund, which "encourages investment in outdoor recreation and conservation projects," according to the state website. The remaining funds will come from the city's 1-cent sales tax on hotels and restaurants and any leftover money in the general fund. The $2.2 million grant was the largest awarded in the state this year by the Outdoor Stewardship Trust, Barker said.

The downtown trail will connect Buschman Street to Chain Park and the Longleaf Trace. It will include an 8-foot, well-lit pathway, an outdoor classroom and an overlook across the Leaf River.

"For the first time, we are seeing some activity that's going to take place in this area that we envisioned for all that it could be many years ago," Ward 2 Councilwoman Deborah Delgado said. "It's a beautiful, natural environment the way that it is, but it does need that attention and it does need great stewardship, so I am so grateful that the city of Hattiesburg went after the opportunity."

Barker said the idea for the nature trail came from the late landscape architect Edward Blake, who envisioned making green spaces accessible for all to enjoy the natural surroundings that Hattiesburg offers.

"He was somebody who dreamed of things," Barker said. "He just had a real vision for the natural landscape as it was, and he tried to get people up to see it for themselves."

Blake, of Hattiesburg, died in 2010. He designed a number of venues for people to interact with nature, including Crosby Arboretum in Picayune and the Catfish Row Children's Art Park in Vicksburg. He also designed the marsh and trail area behind the Lake Terrace Convention Center.

"Blake was known internationally for his work in ecological planning and design, focused on the creation of environmentally sustainable places," according to his biography on The Cultural Landscape Foundation website.

His work also includes The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park in Indianapolis.

"We appreciate having someone of that caliber having a hand in what we're developing now," Barker said. "That's the true testament of a visionary — to dream things that he would never get to enjoy."

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