Mars Hill renames main trail at Bailey Mountain Preserve in honor of Richard L. Hoffman

MARS HILL - The popular Bailey Mountain Preserve and Park will soon receive major park improvements, and the Mars Hill Town Board was briefed on the project's standing during the board's June 6 meeting at Town Hall.

The Lower Smith Farm Farmstead, which includes the three barns and the house on the plot, is part of the land acquired in 2019 by the town.

Dan Greenberg, a landscape architect with WithersRavenel, a civil and environmental engineering firm based in Cary, presented to the board the park's master plan,

According to Greenberg, the park renovations will be funded in part by a North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant.

According to the master plan presented by Greenberg, the first phase of the project will include renovations to the barns, laying out trails, as well as renovations to a new Discovery Center to be established at the site, located behind the university on Forest Street.

Greenberg said Phase 1 of the project is estimated to cost $430,000.

"Phase 2 would be the remainder," Greenberg said. "What we're looking at in Phase 2 is additional renovations to the Discovery Center, additional renovations to the barns as necessary."

Alderman Nicholas Honeycutt inquired about the project's timeline.

"The timeline I have right now is to finalize master planning with (the board), and we're able to move forward as fast as you like," Greenberg said.

According to Town Manger Nathan Bennett, the board and WithersRavenel will finalize master planning later this month.

"Probably by mid-July, we will have some constructible contract documents, and put that out for bid by Aug. 1," Bennett said. "A lot of these pieces, some of them we can do internally. We're going to need a surveyor, and someone to lay these trails out. I'll lean heavily on folks like Ryan Bell, and the folks who have done tremendous work over there already with trail construction."

Bell is chair of both Friends of Bailey Mountain and the town's Parks and Recreation Committee.

Bailey Mountain Preserve - Richard Hoffman trail naming

The board unanimously passed a resolution to honor Richard L. Hoffman by naming the Bailey Mountain Preserve's main trail, the Yellow Trail, after Hoffman.

Richard L. Hoffman Foundation Treasurer Jeanne Hoffman and the organization's executive director, Lee Hoffman, were on hand at the meeting to commemorate the trail naming.

"The town really appreciates the hard work that you all have done over the last (20) years," Bennett said to the Hoffmans. "Perseverance pays off. We simply wouldn't be to this point without you leading the way — your volunteers and fundraising efforts, and doing all that in memory of your husband, Richard."

Jeanne Hoffman, the foundation's treasurer, said she wished to honor the many residents who donated money to the Appalachian Barn Alliance and the Richard L. Hoffman Foundation for the organizations' work with the town to preserve the Smith Farm at Bailey Mountain Preserve.

"I want to be sure that everybody remembers that we have to honor the people in this community, the ones who gave over $1,000," Jeanne Hoffman said. "Then, there's over 500 people in this community who gave anywhere from $5 to $999. We have to keep in mind that whatever we do here, those folks (are honored)."

Lee Hoffman thanked the board for the recognition.

"The way that I view this is, even though this has Dad's name on it, it's recognition of anyone who has anything to do with this whole process, and is still working on this process," Hoffman said. "I really appreciate this kind of affirmation of everything that's come before now, and will come after this. Dad started this nonprofit before he died, and he named it the Education Foundation For Expanding Human Capacity in the Global Community," Hoffman said, to which Jeanne Hoffman quipped that "he was wordy."

Will Hoffman said the naming of the trail in his father's honor "means everything to the family."

"When we lost Dad so suddenly in 1994, our family had to do something that captured, in some way, what he meant to us," Will Hoffman said. "With the help of a lot of people, many generous organizations and the Town of Mars Hill that 'something' turned into the conservation of Bailey Mountain and the setting aside of a magical place for our community and future generations to enjoy."

Ray Rapp was the dean of the adult Accelerated Credit, Continuing Education, and Summer School (ACCESS) program and summer school at the university.

"One of the great, great honors and privileges I had was to get to work with Dick Hoffman. He was a visionary, and he wanted to make Mars Hill College an institution in service to the region.  It was his inspiration that gave rise to places such as the Southern Appalachian Center. It led to the creation of the Bailey Mountain Cloggers, and the Ramsey Center, as well as a number of outreach initiatives, including the creation of our off-campus program."

Rapp retired from Mars Hill in 2009-10, but remembers the impact Hoffman had on preserving the region's history.

"When I look across the history of the region, he brought an academic and activist mentality to the leadership of the institution, and he made it an exciting and wonderful place to be," Rapp said. "It's a very, very appropriate naming because the Hoffman family's commitment to environmental preservation and saving some of the natural treasures of our region from development. Given Dick's background - his activism and environmental interests, you couldn't get a more appropriate name for the trail."

Bennett reflected back on his time as a student at Mars Hill College, where Richard Hoffman served as an administrator.

"I remember him from there, and of course, he was taken way too soon," Bennett said. "But we wanted to take this opportunity to talk about a way to honor the Hoffman Foundation's efforts."

Alderman Stuart Jolley is a 1986 graduate of Mars Hill and former neighbor of Richard Hoffman.

"He was the students' best advocate as administrator of that campus," Jolley said. "We're glad he came south from Pennsylvania to make a good home here. Kudos to everybody for all their great work."

The Mars Hill Town Board will not meet for its July meeting. Its next meeting will take place Aug. 1 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Mars Hill renames Bailey Mountain main trail after Richard L. Hoffman