No one is in a panic, but time is growing short to raise the 20 percent local match for federal grants, said David Gardner, chairman of the Natchez Trails Project.

The Trails Project has caught the attention of more than one grant-awarding agency, with a combined total of $2,053,843 in federal dollars now available for the construction of the first phase of the trails.

“We have to get the 20 percent match within the next 60 to 90 days,” Gardner said. “We have to be able to tell the Mississippi Department of Transportation that we’re ready to go.”

Grants through MDOT are the most substantial of the funds available — about $1.7 million, not including the required approximately $443,000 local match.

“The total we need to raise locally is about $487,000,” Gardner said. “That will get us a $2.5 million project. So far, our pledges are about $70,000.”

The focus of the Trails Committee has been on fundraising for the last few weeks and will be the push in weeks to come. “I really commend the committee for their work,” Gardner said. “We meet every week. Everybody got an assignment in the fundraising.”

The project needs both individual and business or corporate donors, Gardner said. “And no donation is too small. We need all sizes of donations.”

Corporate sponsorships begin at the platinum level with donations of $10,000 or more. These donors will have both company name and logo on all printed materials and on trails signs. Individuals also may select this and any other level of sponsorship, Gardner said.

Gold sponsors, donating from $5,000 to $10,000, will get company names on signs and recognition on the brochures; and silver sponsors, contributing $2,500 to $5,000, will get company names on the signs.

Both individuals and businesses are becoming Shining Star donors, with contributions of $1,000 to $2,500, and getting their names engraved on a metal star in a brick walkway.

A $500 donation entitles the donor to a name on a brick, also on one of the walkways.

Donations for benches “are completely sold out,” Gardner said.

Gardner is pleased that Lane Company, the corporation that won the bid to develop a casino and park at the Roth’s Hill site on the riverfront, will work with the Trails Project on landscaping and design.

“We want to get this right the first time,” Gardner said. “It’s important to show people what we can do with this project.”

Members of the committee involved in fund raising have been pleased with the response, Gardner said.

“We are hardly ever turned down. People see how this will benefit the community,” he said.

The timetable is not set in stone, but Gardner believes once the funding is in place in another 60 days, the design phase can begin.

“Once we get approval for the design, we’ll be ready to begin construction,” he said. “Fall of this year is the best-case scenario, but we want to incorporate professional people in the designing of the signs and exhibits. We want continuity throughout the project.”

In addition to city departments of engineering, recreation and grants, sponsors assisting the Trails Project are Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Historic Natchez Foundation, Natchez-Adams County Community Alliance, Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau, Natchez Downtown Development Association, Natchez Ministerial Alliance and Natchez National Historical Park.