N.C. Zoo Holds Meeting To Save Historic Bridge

N.C.Zoo Director David Jones hosts community meeting to develop plans to rebuild the historic Pisgah Covered Bridge recently washed away by flooding.

ASHEBORO, NC (PRWEB) August 27, 2003 -- Asheboro, North Carolina Zoo Director David Jones will host a community meeting in Pisgah on Monday, August 25, to discuss the next steps to be taken in rebuilding the historic Pisgah Covered Bridge.

The meeting is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Union Community Hall located just a few hundred yards from the bridge site 10 miles southwest of Asheboro. Residents of Pisgah, Randolph County and anyone interested in the reconstruction effort are invited to attend.

Jones said the response to his effort to raise funds, materials and manpower to restore the bridge--a state landmark and Randolph County icon washed away in a recent flood--has been overwhelming." During Mondays meeting the zoo director will discuss the monetary goal for the effort and his plans to have the bridge rebuilt by the time the dogwoods bloom again next spring."

We expect many members of the local community and a wide range of other people, including individuals, businesses and tourism officials, to be there," Jones said. The discussion will cover the constrruction methods, with timelines and the plan for fundraising."

The zoo director last week announced that he would spearhead an effort restore the historic bridge. Zoo employees, assisted by Randolph Electric Membership Corporation and other local volunteers, spent several days salvaging remnants of the 51-foot wooden bridge, which since 1911 had spanned a branch of the Little River in the Pisgah community. Some pieces of the bridge have been taken by individuals apparently seeking souvenirs of the historic structure. But zoo officials estimate more than half of the original structure, including all the main beams, has been salvaged and stored in a secure place.

The Pisgah Covered Bridge was one of only two surviving covered bridges in the state and the only one easily accessible by the public. Following the construction of a new road and bridge in the Pisgah community during 1950s, the covered bridge fell into disrepair and was badly vandalized despite efforts by the DOT to maintain it.

Recognizing the heritage of the bridge and its potential economic value to the community, Jones and the N.C. Zoo Society initiated an effort in April 1998 to refurbish the bridge and build an adjacent hiking trail along with picnic and parking areas. The project involved a partnership with DOT, The Piedmont Land Conservancy and The LandTrust for Central North Carolina, along with residents of the Pisgah community. More than $73,000 in private funds and in-kind gifts were raised and a dedication ceremony marked its completion in October 1999.

The zoo is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The N.C. Zoological Society is the zoos non-profit support organization.

-30-