By CARL E. FEATHER

Lifestyle Editor

When Rick Brewer looks at the west Ashtabula Harbor breakwall, he sees more than a long line of huge stone blocks stretching for 1.3 miles to the Ashtabula Lighthouse. He sees the foundation for what could become a local recreational resource and national tourist attraction.

Brewer has proposed building a walkway to the Ashtabula Lighthouse from Walnut Beach as a project that would use some of the anticipated Natural Resources Damages (NRD) money arising from the Ashtabula River remediation.

Brewer is coordinator of the Ashtabula River Partnership, however, he presents the breakwater walkway project as a citizen and it does not come with partnership endorsement.

A preliminary engineering report prepared by Smolen Engineering in Jefferson calls for a 12-foot-wide deck constructed of super plasticized concrete on top of the breakwater to create a level, smooth path to the lighthouse. The path would be used for bicycle, pedestrian and other non-motorized access to the lighthouse.

This walkway would do more than just connect people to a destination; the entire stretch would offer recreational opportunities - jogging, roller blading, bicycling across it's concrete surface; fishing from six handicapped-accessible platforms/emergency care areas with park benches; kite flying, sunset watching and wildlife observation it's entire length. The walkway would connect to a nature trail and provide elevated views of a shoreline marsh, a rare habitat along Lake Erie.

"If it could be done, it would give the public the opportunity to experience on that breakwall something they normally would not get," says Brewer. "I just think that anyone and everyone in the community and those who visit the community could utilize that."

Kevin Grippi, a Smolen Engineering employee and former administrator of the Western Reserve Greenway Trail, says the walkway would essentially become the final stretch of the WRGT, which now ends at West 52nd Street. However, an effort is under way to connect Walnut Beach to the WRGT using a series of short connectors through the city.

The WRGT is part of a rail-trail designed to connect Lake Erie to the Ohio River.

"It would be the most amazing terminus for any bike trail in America," says. Grippi. "I'm convinced it would be a tourist attraction of national significance."

There are precedents for this type of project on Great Lakes breakwaters. Alpena, Mich., has a 1,200-foot section of it's breakwater into Thunder Bay topped with a concrete pad. The terminus is a wider area with benches and fishing access.

Greg Sundin, planning and development director for the city, says the walkway was completed several years ago using grant money from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The walkway is part of a 14-mile non-motorized trail that encompasses city and bayfront parks. "This was an extension of that," says Sundin. "It allowed people to get closer to the water."

He says building the walkway has greatly increased handicapped access to the water; previously, only the first 100 feet of the walkway was paved for easy access. "By doing that extension, the full length of it was opened up so basically everybody can use it," says Sundin.

Grippi says it's ironic that while Ashtabula is situated on the lake, there's no public place where people can easily fish from within the city limits. The walkway would change that, plus give handicap access to Lake Erie from the parking lot at Walnut Beach.