Perry Co. awarded with grant for new parks trail

Perry County received a grant of $250,000 from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. With this grant, the City of Perryville, Missouri, will be able to start development on its new mountain bike trail, the Legion Lake Multi-Use Trail.

"[The trail] will include 4.5 miles of 5-foot wide natural single trail that will be a continuous loop including 10 bridges, three bike-only directional mini flow trails for beginners, intermediate and advanced riders with natural stone starting hub; a 7,500-square foot bike handling skills trail and 12-square foot dirt pump truck for beginners to advanced for practice and training," according to a news release.

After waiting since applying in February 2021, the county will now have a large part of its project's projected cost of $367,000.

Legion Lake Multi-Use Trail project manager Trish Erzfeld said the idea for a mountain bike trail came from Perry County native and avid mountain biker Chad Suitor. Following the idea, they found a 57-acre property with a 10-acre lake.

"[Suitor] said, 'You know, I really love mountain biking and we don't really have a lot of cycling options for me and our kids,'" Erzfeld said. "So, we started looking at opportunities and places where we could create a trail, and Legion Lake is a 57-acre piece of property, it is actually nestled within the city limits of Perryville but it's owned by the Perry County Commission, so it's property of Perry County and the Commission oversee it."

Along with bringing in more of the public locally, once the construction is finished they look for the park to be approved by national programs to make them stand out in all of Southeast Missouri. Erzfeld said once the park is finished, they look to be National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) approved.

"They are a program that focuses on kids from sixth grade to 12th grade," Erzfeld said. "They form bike teams but they really teach the kids healthy lifestyles and healthy communities."

Erzfeld said there are still "a few boxes to check," including an environmental review, after that looking for qualified bidders and then they can start the building process.

The construction is projected to begin this spring or summer.