PRESQUE ISLE – Ground was broken this week for a second world-class cross country ski trail designed to promote the Nordic sport and its healthy lifestyle.

About 75 people gathered Monday at the site on the border between Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield for the ceremony marking the construction of the second Maine Winter Sports Center facility. The first trail and lodge are located in Fort Kent.

The sports center was founded with $6 million from the philanthropic Libra Foundation to reintroduce skiing and biathlon, a combination of skiing and marksmanship, into the lifestyle of northern Maine.

The sport was introduced to the region by the immigrant Swedish population that arrived in 1870. Skiing was a major mode of transportation in the winter, as well as a sport during numerous winter carnivals in the Swedish and other surrounding communities.

In addition, the sport center offers coaching by world-class athletes, most of them former World Cup or Olympic competitors.

To date, the MWSC has either constructed or renovated ski facilities in Fort Kent and Mars Hill. In addition, mini world-class ski trails have been built at local schools to allow children to ski during physical education or recess times.

“Our plan is by the end of this season that we have a fully operational ski facility,” said Andy Shepard, MWSC’s executive director, referring to the Presque Isle site.

Five kilometers of ski trails have been constructed at the central Aroostook site, with another 10 kilometers scheduled to be ready by the time snow flies this winter, according to Shepard.

Next year, work will begin on a ski lodge being designed by Peter Gallenz, a former World Cup skier and an architect.

Shepard said the lodge will attempt to reflect the Nordic culture, the story of the early Swedish settlers and the importance of skiing in their lives.

Shepard said that the intent with the lodges is to make them attractive to spectators, billing the buildings as the “best seats in the house” to watch competition on the trails.

Trails will be added onto as funds allow and about $900,000 is needed to complete the rest of the project’s infrastructure, Shepard said.

“As we’re going along, we’re trying to make sure that everything we do is of the highest quality possible,” Shepard said. “We want to make sure [programming] is powerful and able to change the lives of people we touch.”

As a result, some plans have been deferred because of cost, Shepard said. But in order to keep the organization’s non-profit status, 10 percent of the center’s activities needs to come from the community.

“It’s very important to see the same [level] of interest in the MWSC programming in Aroostook County,” Shepard said.

In addition to encouraging local participation, the sport center also is applying for grants to complete the trail system, Shepard said.