At the Spruce Pine Town Council meeting on Monday evening, September 25th, the council agreed that the Town Manager could move forward in seeking a grant for a downtown walking bridge that connects Locust Street with Riverside Park. Plans to repair the existing bridge began several years ago when then Director of the Spruce Pine Main Street program, Libby Phillips, spearheaded an effort to rehabilitate the historic bridge. A total of $1,135,843 has been raised from sources including NCDOT, CSX, the Phillips Foundation, direct state appropriation, the Town of Spruce Pine, and Dogwood Health Trust. However, since that time due to Covid and rising prices, the cost of the rehabilitation plans approach around $2.5 million, leaving a shortfall approaching $1.5 million to repair the current bridge. A current grant opportunity from NCDOT is open, but the historic bridge would not qualify as it cannot be rehabilitated to be totally inclusive (handicapped-accessible). The grant could be used toward the construction of a new bridge. The Town Council agreed by consensus that Town Manager Darlene Butler could apply for the grant. Should the application be successful, then the Council would weigh the difficult decision between historic and inclusive.
In other news the Town of Spruce Pine has announced state representatives, Senator Ralph Hise, Jr. and Representative Dudley Greene, have secured $2,500,000 in the state budget for the Spruce Pine Town system water and sewer infrastructure improvements.
