Cleveland/Bradley County Greenway system access was officially expanded Tuesday afternoon. Cutting the ribbon on a new half-mile spur are, from left, Cleveland/Bradley County Greenway Committee Chairman Cameron Fisher; TDK Construction Development Manager Ross Bradley; Rita Fillauer Harbison, a member of the Fillauer family who donated the easement; Cleveland City Councilman Bill Estes; Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland; Greenway board members Judy Chandler and Adam Lewis; and Cleveland City Councilmen Dale Hughes and George Poe. Banner photo, DAVID DAVIS
The Retreat at Spring Creek made a $13,000 donation to the Cleveland/Bradley Public Greenway System to help complete the multipurpose trail adjoining the luxury gated neighborhood on 25th Street at APD 40.
Greenway Board Chair Cameron Fisher said before The Retreat was involved, Spring Creek partners Tom Cate and Brenda Lawson shared their vision for expanding the trail south under APD 40, connecting Lee University and downtown Cleveland.
“There has been a passage under APD 40 for about 2 1/2 years,” Fisher said. “It kind of sat idle for awhile until the Fillauer family gave the right of way for the trail alongside the Ocoee Middle School track. All the pieces fell into place when the Fillauer family happily agreed, and we are thankful to them.”
TDK, which has just leased the last of 199 apartments in the gated neighborhood, is located directly across from the Spring Creek Development, Cleveland’s first lifestyle development. Construction will begin on a second phase in coming weeks to expand the neighborhood to more than 300 units.
Fisher said the asphalt trail is not part of the Greenway, but he described it as the first connector. A box culvert and bridge crosses Fillauer Branch, a small stream named for the Fillauer family who own a portion of the land on which the Greenway passes.
The family donated the right of way for the western side of the branch, which traverses near the Ocoee Middle School track on Parker Street and ends at 20th Street near Schimmels Park at Lee University.
Two years ago, Ocoee Middle School was awarded a $25,000 grant from the Healthy Community Initiative, the fund made possible through the sale of Bradley Memorial Hospital. The grant helped pay for another box culvert/bridge near 20th Street and the base of the path from 20th Street to where it crosses over to The Retreat.
Fisher noted the original vision of Ocoee Middle School Principal Ron Spangler to put a Greenway in place near campus, and the HCI Committee who bought into that vision to fund it.
The path will end at 20th Street at Schimmels Park on the Lee University campus. From there walkers can follow sidewalks to the Cleveland/Bradley County Greenway leading through the campus, into historic downtown Cleveland and ending at the Museum Center at Five Points.
