As the territory’s political leaders search for ways to invigorate St. Croix’s flagging tourism economy, the much-lauded St. Croix Heritage Trail project is moving ahead on the sheer perseverance of a handful of people.
Last month, the St. Croix Landmarks Society in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Works signed an agreement that will provide $54,000 in federal funds to begin the second stage of the project.
A large portion of the funding, which will be administered by the Landmarks Society, will be used to construct nine scenic overlooks and pullovers along the 72-mile Heritage Trail. The remainder will go to produce new informational materials, said Nancy Buckingham, Heritage Trail coordinator.
Securing money for the second-stage work took a year, in which Buckingham bounced from office to office. Although Gov. Charles Turnbull approved some $250,000 to establish the trail, no funding source was specified.
Up to this point, monetary support and material to get the trail off the ground has come largely from businesses. Additional help came from the Anti-Litter and Beautification Committee and Public Works, which has to act as the conduit for federal transportation funding.
The next obstacle facing the project is securing money for its administration, in particular keeping its new office in Frederiksted open, Buckingham said. The Heritage Trail headquarters have moved from the Caravelle Hotel in Christiansted to a shared spot in the Our Town Frederiksted office.
Because no administrative funding was provided under the federal agreement, trail coordinators are hoping that $30,000 included in the economic development package passed last week by Turnbull will come up soon. Otherwise, the Heritage Trail office will close in May.
"We’re pretty much going on the seat of our pants for administrative funding," Buckingham said.
Meanwhile, engineers from the Eastern Federal Lands Division of the U.S. Department of Transportation will be on St. Croix next month to survey scenic overlook and pull-over areas. Four of the planned overlooks are on Scenic Drive West and one is above Great Pond.
Pullovers are slated for stops at Lower Love, Solitude, Castle Nugent and Little La Grange.
"We have so much that is already here," Buckingham said. "This is a little amount of money to develop what we already have."
The federal agreement also provides for a Heritage Trail Web site, a rack card, two thematic brochures and a one-time revision of the original St. Croix Heritage Trail brochure and map.
Buckingham said the costs of developing an interpretive booklet and printing the other publications are not funded.
"Marshall and Sterling has made the contribution for printing the rack card," she said. "We will have to depend on outside grants and corporate contributions to carry out several important initiatives of the Heritage Trail program. Among these initiatives is more intensive training for taxi drivers and tour operators on the use of the Trail."
Significant progress was made in the project’s first year with the printing of 25,000 copies of the Heritage Trail brochure and map and the placement of directional road signs along the route.
Several publications have featured articles on the island’s newest tourism product, the latest being a 10-page piece in the February issue of Caribbean Travel and Life magazine.
The Heritage Trail, named one of 50 National Millennium Legacy Trails in the United States, highlight historic buildings and ruins, visitation sites and nature areas .
Turnbull is scheduled to dedicate the Heritage Trail on March 15 in Frederiksted.
