Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 6, 1993 TAG: 9304060040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEMBROKE LENGTH: Medium
WHO'LL BRIDGE FUNDING GAP?
Psssst... Got a couple hundred thousand dollars to spare? Wanna preserve a piece of history?The state is looking for someone or some group to take over the historic Pembroke bridge over the New River in Giles County.
Stressed by age, the quarter-mile, steel-truss bridge - built in 1916 - has been dubbed a historic landmark by preservationists; it had been a safety hazard and nuisance to many motorists, however.
The state Transportation Department originally had planned to demolish the structure when plans for a replacement bridge rose to the top of the department's project list.
But when a few voices objected to the demolition, the work was put on hold until highway department officials and the state Department of Historic Resources could agree about what to do with the old bridge.
The overwhelming sentiment of locals was to tear it down and put a modern, two-lane span in its place. State highway officials had determined that repairs would be more expensive than a new bridge.
Some preservationists, however, argued to save it. The structure became one of 20 steel-truss bridges in Virginia targeted for preservation by the Historic Resources Department.
In January, state officials finally signed an agreement under which the Historic Resources Department will take ownership of the span if it finds suitable "partners in management," Hugh Miller, the department's director, said then.
The agreement provides that if a preservation plan cannot be worked out, the bridge will be demolished.
In Monday's Roanoke Times & World-News, the state Department of Transportation advertised it was looking for someone to assume ownership of the bridge, releasing the department from any future losses.
The new owner must maintain the bridge's historic characteristics.
"Yeah, you want it?" Transportation Department engineer Dan Brugh jokingly asked a reporter.
The costs associated with maintaining the bridge are prohibitive, Brugh said, adding that it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars simply to paint it.
"Certainly, we aren't willing to put that amount of money in it," he said.
And although the eventual fate of the historic bridge is not decided, Brugh said, construction will begin on a new Virginia 623 bridge - to be built upstream from the old one - in April 1994.
Elizabeth Hoge, architectural historian with the Department of Historic Resources, said, "We are investigating the possibility of taking ownership."
If someone else comes forward who is interested in taking responsibility for the bridge, Hoge said, the department either would allow them to take it or work with them.
Bill Richardson, a preservationist from Blacksburg, was the first to call for saving the bridge. He said potential recreational developments in the Pembroke area may be changing residents' minds about wanting the old bridge demolished.
A boat ramp is being planned by the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, he said.
Two Virginia Tech landscape-architecture students are coming up with planning proposals that include the bridge.
Once the proposals are made, Richardson said, the community could see how the bridge fits in, then decide whether to seek federal funding for its upkeep.
Brugh said if an owner for the old bridge is not found by the time the new bridge is ready, a demolition bid will be included as part of the bid package for the new bridge.
Brugh said a decision on what to do must come by mid-1995, when the new bridge should be completed.
One thing is clear.
"Everybody wants somebody else to look after it," Brugh said.