What’s New at RiverWoods

Riverwalk Concept Develops at RiverWoods Senior Living Community

November 28, 2006

The Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority (LARA) recently applied for a one hundred thousand dollar grant in order to develop and maintain the area along the banks of the Susquehanna River, owned by RiverWoods Senior Living Community in Lewisburg, into a walking trail.  The trail will be available to RiverWoods residents and open to the public and will be approximately a mile and a half long.

Greg Weitzel, of LARA, and Brian Auman, of SEDA-COG (Council of Governments), organized and facilitated a focus group involving 12 RiverWoods residents in order to obtain their opinions on envisioning and designing a trail along the river on the RiverWoods campus.  Recreational and safety features and future trail connections were just a few of the topics discussed. 

"Good design is about meeting the needs of the use,” Brian commented.

The group met on November 16 and brought together those residents who have some type of tie to the river and/or the outdoors.  Brian and Greg brought with them the floor plan maps of the proposed area and the preliminary design to give the participants an idea of what the future trail will look like.  The focus group will meet again in the near future.

“Our campus is greatly anticipating the arrival of the walking trail,” Wes Leidig, RiverWoods Executive Director, remarked.  “It will be yet another activity that the residents can enjoy.”

The RiverWoods property is wonderfully diverse – rolling hills, woods, orchards, Buffalo Creek, farm fields, meadows, and wetlands, in addition to the West Branch Susquehanna River.

It is LARA’s hope that the grant will go through early this Spring to allow the project to move forward.