The new James Street Trail Bridge will be named ‘The Gosling Bridge’
in recognition of a major donation to the project.
The Guelph Hiking Trail Club and its coalition of partners have announced today that the new multi-purpose bridge for the James Street Trail will be named The Gosling Bridge. The naming is in recognition of a $15,000 donation from The Gosling Foundation made early in the campaign.
“The Gosling Foundation, a Guelph-based organization, was very supportive of our campaign in the early going,” says GHTC President John Fisher. “They helped us get halfway to our $50,000 goal before we started asking for public support two weeks ago, a major boost,” he adds.
As of Monday, April 12, the campaign has raised about 95 per cent of its target, with 350 individual donations. Most of these have come in the two weeks since the campaign was first announced. “It caught the public imagination,” says Fisher. “People want this popular trail that connects the downtown to the forest to be safe and accessible, and they want it built soon.”
The Gosling Foundation is a funder of nature projects, with close connections to the University of Guelph and The Arboretum. Stan Kozak, executive director of the foundation, says, “The Guelph Hiking Trail Club and their community partners are showing great initiative in managing this resource, and they’re encouraging citizen involvement in down-to-earth nature projects.”
The Foundation is named for its founder, Philip R. Gosling, a successful entrepreneur and naturalist. It is driven by a passion to protect birds in particular and the natural environment more broadly. Perhaps fittingly, the James Street trail runs beside Goose Island, a wildlife haven in the middle of the Eramosa River.
The recent campaign to raise money for the bridge, which will span a dangerous storm water outflow from Cutten Fields, is all about connection. The Hiking Trail Club, which recently signed an agreement with the university to manage the trail, has partnered with more than a half-dozen other community organizations in the fundraising campaign including: Speed River Cycling Club, Guelph Victors Running Club, Guelph Off Road Bicycling Association, Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation, and Nature Guelph.
The trail itself also connects to some of the Guelph region’s best recreational greenspaces: The Arboretum, The Smith Property on Watson Road, The Arkell Springs Trails (the source of the city’s water), and the Starkey Hill Conservation Area, all to the southeast of the city.
Stan Kozak | Executive Director – The Gosling Foundation
More information:
John Fisher, Guelph Hiking Trail Club
jhnfshr62@gmail.com • 226-962-1832
