Lexington, KY - It is called the Legacy Trail, built as a way to connect Lexington to the Kentucky Horse Park and serve as a lasting reminder of the World Equestrian Games that will bring visitors from around the world to the Bluegrass.
But the trail also leaves another legacy - an example of how cooperation between the residents of Fayette County, the University of Kentucky, businesses and state and local governments can make a project happen.
"This project was citizen-inspired. Citizens fleshed it out, and it is for the citizens," said Steve Austin, vice president for community leadership with the Bluegrass Community Foundation.
The non-profit foundation was charged with leading the creation of two projects that would leave a legacy for the Games back in 2007 and was given a $2.55 million Knight Foundation grant to get started.
"We wanted a project that would make Lexington a much better place, and that would be our legacy," said Austin, whose background includes work as planner for Georgetown and Scott County.
When the foundation started calling for ideas for a WEG legacy back in 2007, Austin said two ideas kept coming up: the trail to the Horse Park and revitalizing Lexington's East End neighborhood. The result of the discussions was a project that could accomplish both those goals: a trail through the Kentucky countryside with the Horse Park at one end and a new East End park in the East End - the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden - at the other.
"The thing that really brought them together was Isaac Murphy," said Austin, referring to the legendary jockey who lived in the East End and rode at the track that was on Race Street in the late 1800s.
The small park in his honor is being developed where Third Street runs into Midland Avenue. Eventually, the Legacy Trail will start at the park and wind to the Horse Park, where Murphy is buried.
"Isaac has been the connector," Austin said.
For now, the trail runs from the Horse Park as far as the North Side YMCA, about 8.5 miles. Two trail heads also are located in the Coldstream Research Park area, about five miles and "20 beautiful minutes" from the Horse Park campground by bike, Austin said.
The trail will provide an alternate route to the Games when they begin on Sept. 25 and run through Oct. 10, bringing together riders and equestrian fans from around the world.
But beyond the Games, the trail is seen as an enduring way to provide residents and visitors a way to connect to the rolling farmland of the Bluegrass.
"It's a phenomenal way for people to get out and enjoy the countryside," Austin said.
It also will be an educational tool, with signs providing information about the geology and geography of the area. And it will become a way for people to interact with public art.
Creating more public art displays is what attracted Marnie Holoubek to creating more trails for Lexington. She had previously worked on a trails task force led by Urban County Council member Jay McChord.
"My interest was in making art more accessible to everyone," said Holoubek, who went on to become one of the founding members of Legacy Trail Public Art Consortium.
There will be three art projects on the trail this fall, she said: