Grant Supports New Trails North of Corvallis Hospital May 8, 2024 Thanks to a generous Oregon State Parks trails grant, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center employees, patients and visitors will soon be able to stroll through the Owens Farm property north of the hospital campus that has been off limits for decades. The state recently awarded the city of Corvallis, which owns the historic farm property, a $150,000 Recreational Trails Program grant to construct universal access, non-motorized trials. Universal access trails provide trails usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without separate or segregated access for people with disabilities. The grant will help build nearly two miles of these pathways, which will wind through property owned by the city and Samaritan Health Services. The grant will be administrated by the Greenbelt Land Trust, which has land interests north of the Owens Farm property. “The healthy routes to school, to life, to hospital, to all of the above also tie into the bigger vision of this project,” said Jessica McDonald, executive director of Greenbelt Land Trust during a recent media tour of the property. “Nature heals,” said Laura Hennum, CEO of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. “Research demonstrates that. So to have these trails at our doorstep is something.” Phase one of the plan will include construction of two trails on the 131-acre property. One trail will start at the end of an existing trail located near the terminus of Satinwood Street. This path will extend through Samaritan property onto the Owens Farm and end with a loop through the oak woodlands north of the Sunnyside school house. The other, shorter trail will start near the gravel employee parking lot and end at the top of the grassy knoll overlook northeast of the Cascade View Medical Plaza. The trail construction should begin in early 2025. The total project cost is estimated at $400,000. Future plans include a bike/pedestrian bridge that will cross the railroad track and Highway 99 just northeast of the knoll overlook. That bridge will eventually tie in access to the trails in the Jackson-Frazier Wetland. “This universal trail on this beautiful piece of property will be a safe space close for patients, employees, providers and neighbors,” said Hennum. “To me it’s where all the lines intersect with our Samaritan mission of building healthier communities together.” Although it has been under city ownership for more than two decades, access to the farm property has been limited to guided tours. In 2014 the Sunnyside School was moved to the farm site from its original location on Ninth Street, about one mile south of its current location. According to the website Restore Oregon the Craftsman-style schoolhouse was built in 1912 to replace an original one-room school that dated from the late 1800s. The Owens Farm Partnership is hosting an open house at Owens Farm on Tuesday, May 21, from 4 to 6 p.m. Representatives from each partner organization will attend and the public is invited to drop in for a look inside the farmhouse, to see the trails plan, learn about the vision and find out how to help with the project.
