PORTSMOUTH, OH (WOWK) – Ohio Governor Mike Dewine made a big announcement Monday for the Buckeye State’s Appalachian Region.
The governor began in Portsmouth, then to Proctorville, Lucasville and Marietta, to present a grant worth more than $152 million for transformational, economic development projects in some of the more rural areas of the Buckeye State. These projects are to be funded as part of the Appalachian Community Grant Program, with a focus on revitalizing communities along Ohio’s Appalachian waterfront.
Ohio’s Appalachian counties get $154M for economic development
“We’re told by people in local communities that ‘We’d like to do more with the river. We would like for it to be more of the community. We’d like to have it an opportunity to really get more tourists to come to this area, but also for our own people to really, really use the river,'” DeWine said. “It’s their ideas. It’s their vision, and they’re the ones who know best, and they’re the ones who, with this money, are now going to be able to really transform Portsmouth.”
In Portsmouth, the money will go toward building a new amphitheater, a fishing pier for Alexandria Point Park, a new street art plaza and campground, as well as pathways for walking and biking.