Growing in ❜23: Coal Line Trail, Love Creek cabin/shelter and Bertrand park.

And now, here are three major (or intriguing) additions to trails and parks to watch in the coming year.

Coal Line Trail

Over the past several weeks, contractors have started the work of converting the old Coal Line railroad bridge over the St. Joseph River, just north of Angela Boulevard in South Bend, into a pedestrian bridge.

This signals the home stretch for the Coal Line Trail, as the city expects to finish the bridge and the final half of the trail by the end of this year, according to city planner Chris Dressel, who serves as the city’s bicycle coordinator.

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With cranes on site, contractors have started to remove railroad ties from the bridge. Dressel says most of the nearly century-old bridge’s spans and decking will be used, based on what an inspection in 2016 had found. Some of the smaller, connective materials will need to be replaced. A section of the bridge along the west bank has to be rebuilt. All of that will be painted dark gray.

On top, a 14-foot-wide concrete deck will be built for cyclists and pedestrians to cross, Dressel says. Along the sides, there will be 4.5-foot-tall metal railings with lights embedded in them to avoid furthering light pollution and to keep a “streamlined look,” he says.

The first half of the Coal Line Trail finished last year, linking Lincoln Way West to the river and the Riverside Trail. The coming extension will slide along the north side of the alley behind Angela, climbing a hill until it reaches the East Bank Trail and the trail by Indiana 933. In total, the whole path will be 1.5 miles.

Two short paths will be paved to connect it to Angela, one along North Shore Drive and one at Iroquois Street.

A plaza and overlook will be built where the Riverside Trail meets the pedestrian bridge.

Dressel says Milestone Contractors is converting the bridge at a cost of $3.5 million, and Selge Construction Co. will build the trail extension when the weather warms for $1.7 million. Both are based in St. Joe County. Federal dollars are covering 80% of the costs.

Love Creek cabin

A mysteriously vacant cabin has long intrigued skiers and hikers who’ve ventured into the wooded back-40 trails at Love Creek County Park in Berrien Center.

What is it? Could the park ever use it?

Well, in 2014, when the park added the 26-acre Simpson property that includes the structure and the expanded trails there, dreams started to move toward reality.

Now Berrien County Parks plans to convert it to an open-air pavilion, Director Jill Adams says. That could happen sometime this year — if not, early next year. At least that’s what officials hope, if the planning and construction season works in their favor.

The cabin was a weekend retreat for Dale and Johanna Simpson, who lived nearby in Berrien Center. Naturalist Kip Miller, who retired in 2019 after some 35 years at Love Creek, recalls “looking across the ravine from our side many times (and many years ago) and seeing them over there with grandkids and such.”

February 2019:'Groomerman' bids adieu to beloved labor on Love Creek trails

“Johanna also used to walk their property and our trails almost daily," he adds. “In fact, she sometimes startled us on the trails, when we thought nobody was in the park.”

It’s hard to tell when the cabin was last used, Miller says, noting that the aging couple died a few years after the park acquired the property.

“The Simpsons were good people," Miller says. “The only reason we were able to ski on the outer loop for all those years before we acquired their property was because they gave us permission (via a lease at no charge) to run the connecting trail along the creek on their property. Not everyone would do that!”

The cabin’s conversion is made possible through a $40,000 donation last fall from the Bitzer Family Fund, which is based in the local Berrien Community Foundation. But, if the actual cost runs over that, Adams says, the department may have to raise more money.

She says an architect has looked into some of the ideas that have been floated, and an there’s an environmental assessment now under way, all of which will determine exactly what the new structure will look like.

Adams says it’s already been decided that it won’t be an enclosed building. The cabin currently has a small kitchen, bathroom, living space and loft. But it also has a fireplace that, Miller says, Johanna Simpson built herself with stones that Dale had been gathering.

The park plans to preserve and use the existing fireplace.

Naturalist Derek Pelc, the current park manager, said the cabin also has some good wood that’s worth salvaging, possibly in the shelter.

The result would be an interesting picnic pavilion, with fires in winter, where hikers and skiers could rest and where the park’s naturalists could bring school groups on their guided tours.

Madeline Bertrand to grow

Madeline Bertrand County Park in Niles will be adding 33 acres along the northern boundary of its current 121 acres this year. Berrien County Parks expects to seal the deal in the first three months of 2023, Adams says.

It’s a “rare” and “valuable” opportunity to expand a park with adjacent land, Adams notes.

She says Berrien County Parks and the family that owns the land have agreed upon a $425,000 price for what’s known as the Helmen property. They are wrapping up the purchase process. The land had appraised for about $700,000. The state’s Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund has awarded a grant of $300,000 to help with acquisition, while the remainder will come from the parks budget, Adams says.

About three years ago, owners of the vacant, wooded site reached out to the parks department, wanting to see the land become part of Madeline Bertrand. It includes a ranch home that’s in bad repair, a horse barn and a storage structure. Officials have yet to decide which, if any, of those structures will be kept.

In fact, the parks officials have yet to decide how the land will be used, though some of the leading ideas would be to grow the trail systems and expand the current lodge, a rustic building with a front office and an indoor area with picnic tables and wood-burning stove. Also, the parks would like to expand its bathroom building.

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But Adams says the parks commission isn’t interested in one idea that had come out in a master plan in recent years: a campground.

The master plan had been crafted with several brainstormed ideas, all of which were mere dreams until funding was found. They included widened trails for skate skiing, a wedding gazebo, new shelters, a “grand green” lawn with paved trails around it, and improved disc golf tees and baskets.

Whatever’s decided, Adams says, the department will seek grants to help further its chosen projects. The added land won’t be open or usable for exploration until trails or access is built, she says.

Madeline Bertrand, at 3038 Adams Road, offers hiking, disc golf, skiing and mountain biking depending on the season and conditions.

Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Parks and trails grow at Coal Line, Love Creek and Madeline Bertrand