Overview: Sylva’s Bridge Park Project
The park drew its name from a Town of Sylva plan, discussed for years and funded in spring, 2006, to bridge Scotts Creek with a pedestrian bridge between Poteet Park and the municipal parking lot on Railroad Avenue.
In general terms, the Bridge Park is to combine with the bridge to provide a pedestrian corridor connecting Sylva’s downtown business district and the municipal lot with public parks and facilities on the north side of Scotts Creek, including Poteet Park, the Jackson County public swimming pool and various town and county offices.
In addition, the plan includes the repaving and landscaping of the underused municipal lot, funded by the Town of Sylva and currently under way.
Development of the area along Railroad Avenue was always part of the long-range plan of Sylva Partners in Renewal (now the Downtown Sylva Association), and was planned as “phase two” of a master plan that included the Main Street streetscape, which was completed in the late nineties.
However, the second phase of the DSA plan had been generally dormant for some time. In early 2006 then- DSA board member Sarah Graham volunteered to execute a feasibility study of whether phase two was still a worthwhile consideration. She invited a group of community-minded citizens to the site in July, 2006 to share ideas for the space. Enthusiasm was great, partnerships were forged, and the fundraising and planning efforts for the park began immediately.
Since then, over $100,000 in cash and in-kind donations has been raised for the Bridge Park, the majority of which funded the construction of the timber framed pavilion. A landscaping fund for the park was started by the Sylva Garden Club, and is currently funded to the tune of $5,000. The Bridge Park Project will continue fundraising, beginning with next weekend’s annual Bridge Park Arts and Music Festival, with hopes to complete the grounds next year.
Tags: bridge park, downtown business district, Jackson County, Sylva
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