The Borough of Ridgway is a gateway to the scenic PA Wilds, a 13-county landscape with more public land than Yellowstone National Park and nighttime skies that still display the stars the way previous generations saw them before the age of commercial and industrial development. It is bordered by the Allegheny National Forest with three trails and 28 acres of public land along the Clarion River, a nationally designated Wild & Scenic River. This waterfront area has the potential to significantly improve livability for the community and attract outside visitors.

HRG worked with the borough to develop a master plan that will improve public access to the river and create new public recreational space along the waterfront. The goal of the plan is to create projects that spark economic growth and attract new residents and visitors, while capitalizing on the one-of-a-kind natural assets that Ridgway has to offer.

We collected extensive input from the community and regulatory agencies via meetings and surveys to determine the most desirable uses for this space and created several design concepts. The concept the community selected includes:

• A campground
• Sports court
• Pump track
• Nature play area and water access along the riverfront
• Fishing pier
• Open green space
• Nature walk
• Building renovations to accommodate indoor event space, restaurants, and retail
• Ample parking

Almost the entire site is located within the floodplain, so the site was carefully designed to incorporate flood mitigation and reforestation.

The plan groups improvements into five phases for implementation and includes detailed cost analysis and funding strategies. The estimated cost of all 5 phases is almost $26 million.