Plans for the Belmont Trolley are closer to becoming reality. What will it mean for the city’s tourism?

BELMONT, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — By the end of next year, you'll likely be able to catch a new ride in downtown Belmont.

The city's trolley project has been 10 years in the making . Project leaders are hoping they'll finally be able to start building the Belmont Trolley Barn next spring.

"We'd like to have at least one car on the track doing excursions by December of '25," said Rob Pressley, president of Belmont Trolley.

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Thanks to Gaston County's Tourism Authority, the goal is one step closer to reality. With the organization's $100,000 investment, the Belmont Trolley now has more than $2 million to move forward with phase one of the project — the pavilion.

"We have decided now that it is more important to get the pavilion built and the tracks aligned to accommodate the trolleys than it is to try to wait and raise the total funds to build the entire facility," said Pressley.

That will allow Pressley to get these three cars out of storage and into public view.

The cars will run on the train tracks from the Trolley Barn at the intersection of Catawba and Glenway streets north to a station near the intersection of Main Street and Wilkinson Boulevard. Eventually, the trolley will cross Interstate 85 and run to Belmont Abbey College.

It's about a $4 million investment, which tourism leaders say will have a big payoff.

"We think it'll do a fantastic job increasing the energy in downtown Belmont," said Michael Applegate, Gaston County's director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. "It will be a mile and a half along the track, so it'll be interesting to see what spurs up along that track."

For comparison, before light rail replaced the trolley in Charlotte's South End, 100,000 visitors came to the area per year.

"It's people dining in restaurants, staying in hotels, visiting the other attractions, the Whitewater Center, Stowe Botanical Garden and coming into Charlotte," said Pressley. "We think it's a huge economic driver."

Projects leaders hope eventually they'll be able to run the trolley to other parts of Gaston County to connect several areas.