Life Outside Fall 2017 - 11

QuickStrides

Trail News
New Outdoor Rec Nature
Center Coming to Damascus

PAT & CHUCK BLACKLEY

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy
will be a primary tenant in a new
national-destination nature center
for training, collaborative conservation
management and visitor engagement.
The facility, to be built along Laurel
Avenue in downtown Damascus,
will serve as the centerpiece for a
new Town Green and Festival Park,
all of which are part of the Town of
Damascus Downtown Revitalization
and Improvement Master Plan.
"We're pleased to be a part of the
center," says Andrew Downs, Central
and Southwest Virginia Regional

Director for ATC, "and equally pleased
that there will also be representation
in the center for paddlers, pedalers,
horseback riders and more. The
location-with both the A.T. and the
Virginia Creeper Trail nearby, and
with Damascus being a gateway to
the Mount Rogers National Recreation
area-is just ideal."
The center is still in the early
planning stages, with no final design
as of presstime. Anticipated size is
expected to be in the 2,500-squarefoot range.
-KR

TRAIL DAYS
The experience in downtown Damascus is slated to be enhanced with a new nature
center, with groundbreaking slated for the timeframe of Trail Days 2018.

LifeOutsideMag.com // 2016

11

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Life Outside Fall 2017

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