County favors restoring Stone Bridge for rec use only

     The discussion on the future of Ely’s Stone Bridge continues among the Jones County Supervisors and the Historic Preservation Commission.

   During the Oct. 17 board meeting, Commission member Dean Zimmerman was again present to hear from the board of their ultimate goal with the historic bridge.

   While the original intent of the county when handing oversight of the bridge over to the Commission was to establish a two-lane roadway for vehicular traffic and restore the structure. Due to the high cost associated with such a project, the scope has changed.

   “The process is quite a bit cheaper with this,” said Supervisor Ned Rohwedder of restoring the bridge to allow pedestrian and bicycle traffic to travel across. “I’d like to see what could be done at this level.”

   Zimmerman said with the $2 million price tag associated with restoring the bridge to DOT standards, he had a feeling from the supervisors that they were not in favor of such an option anymore.

   “We were coming into shortfalls with this as we are trying to write grants,” Zimmerman said of not having a clear concept for Stone Bridge.

   Once the bridge itself is restored to its historical look, it could be handed over to Jones County Conservation to continue further development as a small park.

   “We (the Commission) just need a formal decision that we’re heading in the right direction. These grants want to know the end goal.”

   “I’d rather see it for recreational use and restore the beauty of the structure,” favored Rohwedder.

   The board took action to commit future use of Stone Bridge for recreational use only.