Woodstock might not be Moab, Utah, just yet, but local government and citizen volunteers are trying to develop the area into a mountain-biking destination that will offer 60 miles of trails as well as a cultivated mix of restaurants and businesses to invigorate recreation-fatigued visitors.
A hot yoga studio, folk art and import store, a cigar and beer-and-wine bar, top-end yogurt shop and a Virginia-Highland-based clothing retailer already fill in the gaps in historic downtown between taquerias and taverns.
This weekend’s Streetfest, an outdoor festival and concert headlined by Drivin’ N Cryin’, is the second fundraiser for Greenprints Alliance, a nonprofit backing the vision of Woodstock as a stylish trail hub.
“We came to realize we have a lot of green space there’s no access to,” said Jo Marchildon, a Greenprints board member. “That’s why our tagline is ‘60 miles of Woodstock you’ve never seen.’”
The group is working with city and county government as well as SORBA, the Southern Off Road Bicycle Association, to achieve the web of trails. SORBA is a volunteer organization responsible for a bike system near Sixes Road called Blankets Creek, where Woodstock City Planner Brian Stockton said hosts about 200,000 visitors per year.
“I never used to see bike racks on cars, and now I’m seeing them all the time,” said David Potts, Greenprints chairman and avid rider. “That shows me we’re generating a big biking culture here. More people are moving here because of our trails. We’re trying to double the size of our [Taylor Randahl trails] Rope Mill parking lot as we speak.”
The trail plans include adding pedestrian bridges over Little River and providing a link-up to downtown from area hotels along I-575. “We picked easy, doable segments to start with,” Stockton said. “We’re in the design process of about 7 miles of multi-use trails.”
The current and future paths intersect with Woodstock’s recent commercial and residential development that Hedgewood Properties rolled out in 2005. The company lost the project, called Woodstock Downtown, but it’s moving forward with other investors. The initial work by Hedgewood provided the look of downtown today, which is a pedestrian-centered, eco-minded urban style that complements some of Main Street’s 19th and 20th-century structures and storefronts.
“The overall plan of the city was the saving grace in tough economic times,” Marchildon said. “The blending of the old and new in a sustainable way.”
Positive thinking abounds when it comes to the area ultimately thriving in a drained economy. Woodstock is in the running to relocate the Georgia Music Hall of Fame from Macon. Directors will announce whether it will stay in Macon or move to Athens, Dunwoody, or to a plot of Woodstock buildings downtown, by the end of the month.
“The growth has been phenomenal lately,” said Juanita Hughes, a local history expert and tourism information coordinator at the 1906 Dean’s Store building that is has been operating as a regional welcome center since 2001.
“But in our ancient history, this wasn’t the case. Yet the lifeblood of Woodstock never died. We have several long-term businesses that hung in there, even when Wal-Mart and the big-box stores opened. The people supported local merchants and have always been passionate about that despite down times. I look out this door every day and think, what recession?"
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