Funding is all lined up to reopen the Purple People Bridge. But what will its long-term future be?
The board of economic development organization Be NKY voted Friday to match money approved earlier this week by Newport's commission.
The $125,000 from the city and Be NKY is enough to immediately stabilize the bridge and allow pedestrians and cyclists to use it again by Labor Day.
That's extremely important, officials say. The bridge has exploded in popularity over the years. Newport City Manager Tom Fromme says about 200,000 people walked across the bridge a year in 2005. Now, more than a million people a year cross it. Fromme predicts with development in both downtown Cincinnati and Newport, that number will double in the next decade.
Officials say a longer-term vision is necessary.
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"It's important both that it gets reopened in the short term so it gets activated for events like Oktoberfest and BLINK," Be NKY Vice President of Strategy Christine Russell said. "But it's also important in the future to bring our region together so it can become something we can all be proud of."
The bridge was Cincinnati's first railroad span across the Ohio River when it was completed in 1872. It was modernized multiple times before closing to traffic in 2001. Initially it was to be demolished, but officials in Kentucky stepped in to save it. It's currently owned and operated by the Purple People Bridge Company, a private entity.
The bridge closed May 19 after a chunk of sandstone fell from it. It's the second time in recent years a closure has been necessary due to maintenance concerns.
In addition to the $125,000 needed to make the bridge safe for pedestrians and cyclists, another $125,000 in work is necessary to shore up the bridge longer-term. Then there's the cost of ongoing maintenance, which officials like Fromme say needs to become more sustainable over time.
Future possibilities
What could a future Purple People Bridge look like? That's still up in the air. It's not the first time officials have tried to make plans to level up the popular recreation spot.
A decade ago, developers floated plans to put a hotel and shops on the bridge. Those never came to fruition. But success with similar ideas on other bridges is encouraging, some officials say.
"There's a bridge that's going to be opening later this summer in Kansas City that is interestingly a bi-state bridge like ours that has a restaurant on it and space for farmers' markets," Russell told commission this week. "It's just an amazing vision that's in partnership with private developers. Maybe that's something we look at."
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Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli says the recent closure is just another sign the city and other partners should be thinking bigger about the bridge.
"It's the central point of connection for walkers and bikers in our community, without a doubt," he said. "So now, we have work to do. We have to build the idea of a big, bold concept that will make this an icon for the region."