Trail at BC3 an amenity for all
BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College’s main campus has a 1-mile trail that encircles just about every building of the school. Although it was built in 2012, it is still walked most days when the weather is nice.
And not just by students who go to campus for class.
Brian Opitz, the former executive director of operations for Butler County Community College, said he frequently saw people pushing strollers, walking dogs and taking jogs on the route in the hours after most classes were over. Opitz was part of the group that designed and saw through the construction of the trail. He said it was made to be a part of the community rather than just a part of campus.
“We kind of thought this would be a community entity that might be useful,” he said. “We have a lot of entities up here that are available, and that's why we like to advertise ourselves as the community's college.”
Opitz retired June 30, but is still a consultant for the building and grounds at BC3.
In the 14 years since the trail was completed, the college has continued to maintain it. Opitz said it was resurfaced and seal coated in 2018. It doesn’t get too worn, he said, because it is strictly for pedestrians, not bicycles or other wheeled vehicles. The college also rerouted it a little bit some years ago, but Opitz said the trail still maintains a distance of about a mile.
Even at just a mile long, the trail offers some unique scenery and some physical challenge, what with the hills it goes over and around to circle the campus. The trail even incorporates a stormwater retention pond into its design, which Opitz said was intentional.
Diana Campbell, assistant professor of education & behavioral sciences at BC3, teaches a physical wellness class. She said before the trail was carved, her students used to run through the campus’ parking lots. And even though the paved trail made navigating the distance of one mile easier on campus, Campbell concurred that the route offers a nice physical challenge thanks to its hills, which take people traversing it up, down and around slopes and ridges.
“The course absolutely made it better,” Campbell said of her physical education classes. “It is very challenging, but we do build up to the distance.”
Campbell oversaw a group run on the course Thursday, Sept. 24, when the sun beat off the blacktop that made up the trail. She said certain programs require students to take a physical wellness course, including the nursing program, because it prepares the students for the job: they will have to be up and moving a lot as a nurse.
The trail also gets used for the Pioneer Pursuit each year, an annual fundraiser that includes a 5k and a 1-mile course.
It was a student of BC3 who originally brought the idea for a campus trail to the table. Opitz said the student pitched the idea to the president’s cabinet, and was going to be involved in fundraising for its creation, but graduated before it could come to fruition.
The college continued with the idea anyway because of the utility it offered to the community. The trail is named for educators E. Bertrum and Esther Shaffer. E. Bertrum Shaffer was the first academic dean and twice served as the college's acting president and is credited with designing the college seal.
“Any project we do up here is part of a master plan, and that's a plan that any project will be coordinated with other projects,” Opitz said. “It did solve an internal challenge we had because physical education classes before were working on parking lots where cars were driving and now they can use that trail.”
Opitz also said the college also has a trail that goes through surrounding parts of campus in the Emhoff Trail, which sees use from people looking for a more slow-paced experience.
“We've got 330 acres here and 250 of that is in the woods, is undeveloped and that Emhoff trail wanders through,” Opitz said. “That one's been around for decades. The parks and recreation department uses it. It's beautiful back there.”
The Emhoff Trail also gets covered in leaves and snow in the winter, but the college normally tries to keep the Shaffer Walking Trail clear, according to Opitz. He said it isn’t always possible, however.
“Portions of it we'll keep open, so there's times in the winter where it might be closed due to the weather. We try to keep it clear of leaves,” Opitz said.
Opitz said that because the trail is largely around the buildings on campus, it was always nice to see people walk it, because a person would have to intentionally walk onto it to get to certain parts. He said he and other administrators also heard compliments about the trail from on- and off-campus regulars.
“The location works well, it's got some grade to it, it's got some terrain, it's been super well-received,” Opitz said. “We love to see people on it.”
