Walker County officials are taking a slow gait — not a gallop — to turn the old Barwick plant in Chickamauga into a first-class equestrian facility.

Commissioner Bebe Heiskell said she has preliminary plans for the project, which would include arenas for a variety of animal shows, rodeos and riding. She intends for the public to have access to the amenities and doesn’t plan to move forward with the project unless she is certain it will make money.

“We haven’t expended a single cent on it,” Heiskell said. “What I have done right now is ask an expert in equestrian facilities that has been doing them internationally to draw us up a business plan, to look at our (development) plan and tell if it is something that can make money.

“I don’t want to partner with something that won’t make money,” she said “We’re trying to bring economic development, not failure, to Walker County.”

The old plant is being used as a warehouse and the area is considered a “brownfield,” Heiskell said.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website at www.epa.gov/brownfields, “brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.”

The former Barwick-Archer plant, which is more than 900,000 square feet, was built in 1965 and sits on 216 acres. It was the distribution center for the main plant in LaFayette and currently warehouses materials for Dalton-based Mohawk Industries.

If the project moves forward it will be a public-private partnership with the property owner, Drennon Crutchfield.

“We’ve been more or less planning and hoping that we can develop something over there,” Crutchfield said.

“I think it will be not only profitable for them (but) I think it would be a great asset to Walker County to bring some diversification over there.”

While talking on the phone during the interview, Crutchfield was passing the Tri-State Exhibition Center near Cleveland, Tenn., which he said is about three years old. That arena is a testament to the popularity of horse activities.

“They’re already booked up through the whole year,” he said. “We’ve had their manager up here over to the county. It’s not a competition with them. He encourages it.”

Bobbie Perra, resource coordinator for Walker County and a horse owner, has been helping craft the scope of the project. She has a grand vision of the facility.

“We would like to see an upscale regionally significant outdoor events center,” Perra said. “Of course, we’d like to capitalize on the history of the area, the agriculture and the equestrian interest.”

Other types of development, such as the sale of exclusive properties in Mountain Cove Farms, have proven beneficial to the county while preserving green space.

“Mountain Cove has kind of proven that people will come and bring horses and enjoy the outdoors here, and we have a lot of it to enjoy,” she said. “It’s a green industry.”

The park would also serve as a trail head to send horse riders on a tour up Pigeon Mountain and possibly in the future to Cloudland Canyon, the Chattahoochee National Forest and other state and national parks.

Horse riders aren’t the only ones who would benefit, Perra said. Plans include trails for hikers and mountain bikers. Representatives from the Southeast Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) have met with county officials to provide input on potential trail construction.

The horse park would also cater to support industries including specialty shops and lodging, which translates into more jobs, Perra said.

“I guess you’re really only limited by your imagination as far as that goes,” she said.

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