Pottstown Riverfront Park Bridge Ribbon-Cutting Scheduled Tuesday

December 6, 2024

POTTSTOWN PA – A ceremony to celebrate re-opening of the pedestrian bridge across Manatawny Creek at Pottstown’s Riverfront Park, 140 College Dr., is planned for mid-December.

The bridge was closed in June due to concerns over its deteriorating deck. Its restoration involved building and installing a new bridge, and stabilizing embankments on which its rests. That work was recently completed by contractors, the borough Parks and Recreation Department announced in a Wednesday (Dec. 4, 2024) e-mail.

The new bridge was set and opened for public use on Nov. 21. Now its brief and simple, but official, ribbon-cutting is scheduled for Dec. 17 (Tuesday) at noon on the creek’s eastern bank in the park. Parking is available there, and the walk from the entrance to the ceremony is considered short and flat.

Pottstown opted to buy a replacement span – rather than repair the old one – to ensure a longer bridge life, the department explained earlier. Its decision acknowledges the bridge’s importance as a pedestrian connection that carries a local portion of the miles-long Schuylkill River Trail across the creek.

The overall replacement project, which also includes trail repairs, is valued at more than $732,000, according to a story by reporter Evan Brandt in The Pottstown Mercury newspaper.

Funding for the work was covered by a MontCo 2040 grant, the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation, and contributions obtained through the Pottstown Area Regional Recreation Committee. “Pottstown Parks and Recreation is very proud of the part we have been able to play in maintaining this crucial connection with the help of our funders,” department Director Michael Lenhart wrote.

An Earlier Bridge, Also Celebrated

Riverfront Bridge Ribbon-Cutting Planned for Dec. 17 — *Pottstown Borough Council President Dan Weand wielded the scissors during August for a ribbon-cutting at the pedestrian bridge crossing from Memorial Park to Veterans Island*

The Riverfront Park project will be the second pedestrian bridge opening hosted by the Parks and Recreation Department in recent months. During early August a crowd gathered on Veterans Island in the borough’s Memorial Park for a similar ribbon-cutting to mark the re-opening of the bridge there. It replaced one that was damaged and lost during a 2019 flood.

Veterans Island ribbon-cutting photos by Travels With The Post