On-site consultant for the tank marketing plan | News, Sports, Jobs

Josh Cotton’s Times Observer photo Kinzua Beach, featured here, is one of the focal points of a redevelopment effort. A consultant was in town this week to meet with stakeholders as part of this process.

When the Kinzua Dam was erected in the 1960s, there were a host of wacky ideas about the transformation that could occur in places like Kinzua Beach and Jakes Rocks.

Unsurprisingly, many of these ideas never came to fruition.

But county officials believe there is now a willingness to explore some level of development in this area.

And tourism, recreation and government officials from Warren and McKean counties met throughout the day Thursday to move that conversation forward.

The initiative is officially called the Kinzua Regional Marketing Initiative. It specifically looks at the future of Jakes Rocks, Kinzua Beach and Kinzua Point.

The discussion on site and at dinner on Tuesday focused on “how a business might operate in this space, (what) types of businesses” and what “would be an effective use of space to amplify what’s going on there,” Warren County Commissioner Jeff Eggleston explained.

One of Tuesday’s attendees was the consultant hired to bring all the ideas together, Margaret Bailey of CHM Government Services.

She comes with experience working with the challenges that can arise from the development of federal lands.

Its mission is to conclude a report by early October that will identify options for the region and generate “tracks” As it concerns “how we might create private investments, partnerships and development agreements that (drive) development”, Eggleston explained.

“(We try) to leave the door open to many options.”

Past initiatives in this area have failed for a variety of reasons.

Eggleston said he “it seems like everyone is ready to put their personal agendas aside” develop a “forward-thinking plan for this space.

“They are all in this place where they are ready to meet”, he spoke specifically about the companies involved. The people involved, he pointed out, are “ready to really move on to a more unified view of leisure.”

These changes aren’t necessarily as big as past visions for resorts and amphitheaters, but they could be.

“Everyone is going to aim for the moon” Eggleston recognized. “At the end of the day…if we can raise the bar a bit, then the use of that space goes up, the quality of the experience goes up. We will have done a good thing for the community.

Two factors give Eggleston optimism that this time could be different.

“Anyone who goes there sees the opportunity, sees the benefit,” he said. “It finally feels like the region is ready to see this space move forward.

“I think the fundamental goal for everyone involved (is) to think about space with as much taste and respect as possible given its history. As long as we keep that in mind, (it) will work well. in a way that the community will welcome.