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As summer gives way to fall this week, Glen Maury Park in Buena Vista continues to be a happening place. The refurbished and expanded campground is filling up to capacity with recreational vehicles driven by folks who are here for the 21st Nothin’ Fancy Music Festival being held Thursday, Friday and Saturday. With additional camp sites now in place, the park is likely to have the most campers it has ever had this weekend.
The recent Chris Wheeler Memorial Softball Tournament drew 27 teams and hundreds of participants to the park. Last weekend there was a great turnout for the Rockbridge Mountain Music and Dance Festival. Buena Vista’s 52nd annual Labor Day festival was a big success the week before. The $1 million the city has recently poured into the park – mostly from American Rescue Plan Act funds – has been money well spent. The lion’s share of these expenditures has been to upgrade electrical service at the camp sites.
During the park’s off-season, the first phase of renovations to the nearly half-century-old municipal swimming pool is slated to get underway. Approximately $500,000 worth of repairs are planned over this winter and next, also utilizing ARPA funds. The liner is to be removed and the pool’s concrete surface recoated. Skimmers are being replaced. New diving boards are to be installed and a water slide may be added.
Other improvements made recently to the park are installation of a new playground, development of a disc golf course and enhancements/expansion of a system of trails, including the addition of a “kids in parks” track trail. The tennis courts are being transformed for pickleball use.
Upgrades to the park are evidence that the city is serious about its commitment to outdoor recreation. This has been a point of emphasis for city leaders as they seek to find a niche for economic development pursuits. Kristina Ramsey, the city’s economic development director, gave a report at the Sept. 7 City Council meeting on a community action plan for a Recreation Economy for Rural Communities (RERC).
Buena Vista was one of 25 communities from around the country to be selected for participation in the federally funded RERC program. A two-day workshop was held back in the spring in which dozens of participants helped compile and write the community action plan. The authors of the plan sought to draw connections among the park, the floodwall river walk, the Maury River, downtown, the Chessie Nature Trail, the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Each of these is a key component of outdoor recreation being promoted by the city.
Apart from drawing these connections, the plan offers four broad goals that the community can strive toward. One is to enliven downtown. “For the past six years, the city has prioritized revitalizing downtown,” Ramsey noted. “Moving forward, how can we further enhance this effort to promote outdoor recreation and economic growth?”
Another goal is to improve the infrastructure that’s already in place. “We have some great parks and trails now, but many are dated and need reimagining,” said Ramsey. “We also lack key trail connections.”
Marketing, branding and promotion initiatives need to be stepped up, according to the vision offered in the plan. “For decades, we have faced challenges in defining and promoting [the city’s] unique identity,” observed Ramsey. “There is also a significant communication and information gap, where although we have numerous attractions, assets, businesses, history and culture, visitors and residents remain unaware of their existence or how to access them.”
The last goal, she said, is to expand outdoor recreation activities and educational offerings. “This goal is focused on promoting programming and increas[ing] participation in outdoor activities. Although we have facilities, we need to attract more users to them. The public is interested in contributing to care of nature, downtown and the city in general, but requires guidance on how to get involved.”
With the recent successes of the well-attended events at the park, it would seem Buena Vista is well on its way to being a destination for outdoor recreational activities.
