OTTAWA — A design workshop on the Flint Hills Nature Trail will be 5-6:30 p.m. tonight at Ottawa City Hall. A second workshop will be Friday morning in Council Grove. The workshops are sponsored by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism; and the Kanza Rails to Trails Conservancy. The idea of the workshops is to get input from the public about what they’d like to see for the trail, said Daniel Holloway of Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers. The workshop is a come-and-go meeting in which the public can talk to experts and learn about the trail, he said. The 117-mile trail, which is an abandoned Missouri Pacific rail line between Herington and Osawatomie, is being developed and run by the Kanza Rails to Trails Conservancy and goes through Ottawa. It crosses the Prairie Spirit Trail, which is now a state park that runs from Ottawa to Iola. Holloway said it’s too early to say the if the state will take over the Flint Hills Trail as a park.
Thursday, Feb. 20, 3 p.m.
