COLUMBUS, OH - The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and its local partners in Stark County and the City of Canton will cut the ribbon on a nearly completed five-mile section of the Canton Downtown Connector Trail at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, May 5. The ceremony will take place along the trailway at 12th Street N.W. and Stadium Park Drive N.W. The location is just off Interstate 77.

The City of Canton and the Stark County Park District collaborated to construct the trail, which runs north from 9th Street S.W. in West Park through Old Mother Goose Land, Water Works Park, Monument Park, Stadium Park and Ink Park - ending at Covered Bridge Park. An underpass at West Tuscarawas Street and two bridges - one north of 12th Street and another north of Fulton Drive - allow users to travel unhindered along the paved trailway.

An award of $445,000 from the Clean Ohio Trails Fund supported the $950,000 project, with the Stark County Park District contributing another $145,000. The City of Canton picked up the $360,000 balance.

Who: ODNR Director Sean D. Logan, Canton Mayor William J. Healy, II and other local officials

What: Ribbon cutting for the nearly completed Canton Downtown Connector Trail

When: 9:30 a.m. on Monday, May 5

Where: Along the trailway: 12th Street N.W. at Stadium Park Drive N.W.

Directions to the ceremony: Take the 13th Street exit off I-77, go east a half-mile (13th Street becomes 12th Street). The venue is on the left.