IF there can be such a thing as a hidden jewel in Terrace, it has to be the Howe Creek Trail.
Through a mixture of planning and plain stubbornness over the past 15 years, successive city administrations and officials have slowly constructed a green ribbon of a pathway tucked into the bottom of the Bench in the Horseshoe area.
May 14 marked a big day in the continuing development of the trail by the official opening of an extension called the Howe Creek Tree Park. The name acknowledges that the location once housed Otto Grundmann’s tree farm and that the remaining trees make up some of the greenery along the extension.
What’s significant is that the Howe Creek Trail has now crossed the road leading up Lanfear Hill. Consider it a beachhead for further expansion to the west to eventually come out near the intersection of Hwy 16 and Hwy 113.
Much credit for the Howe Creek Tree Park goes to the Greater Terrace Beautification Society. Through a combination of hard work by volunteers, gentle arm-twisting, effective persuasion to build networks of donors and contributors and good relations with the city, the society continues its task of making the area a better place in which to live.
Considering that the society has been able to undertake any number of projects during an economic downturn, it and its supporters deserve a hearty round of applause.
This is the editorial in the May 25, 2011 print edition of The Terrace Standard.