Fallen bridge might relocate

BROWNSTOWN, Ind. – A southern Indiana county might need to repay $123,000 in federal funds if it goes ahead with a plan to give away the surviving sections of a 19th-century covered bridge that collapsed into a river.

The federal money has been spent on design and restoration work since part of the Bell Ford bridge first fell into the East Fork White River near Seymour in 1999.

Brandi Fischvogt of the Indiana Department of Transportation told Jackson County commissioners Tuesday that the grant cannot be transferred to groups wanting to restore the span and erect it at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park in Indianapolis.

The commissioners voted 3-0 in August to give away the wood-and-iron bridge, which was built in 1868, with the stipulation that the county not face any additional costs.
Commissioners President Monte Striegel said he wanted to talk with officials from the state park along with the city of Lawrence, where Fort Harrison park is located in Marion County, about the grant before making any decisions.

Striegel said the county’s goal was to see a rebuilding of the bridge, portions of which are being stored in Seymour.

A section of the bridge collapsed during a February 1999 winter storm and another section collapsed in 2006.

Plans are to turn the bridge into a centerpiece for Fort Harrison park, spanning Fall Creek and connecting an Indy Greenways trail used by pedestrians and bicyclists.

Fleeta Arthur, a member of the Jackson County parks and recreation board, said it would cost an estimated $1.85 million to rebuild the bridge at its original site about midway between Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky.

She said officials should consider keeping the bridge since so much work toward rebuilding it has been done. She also said she believed the county would need to repay any private donors who had given money to rebuild the span if it is given away.