The “blue bridge” in Newport is a 2,831-food double cantilevered bridge that spans the White river and was constructed in 1930. However, a new bridge is under construction, making the fate of the blue bridge uncertain. Late in 2011, Mayor David Stewert of Newport and the city council decided the bridge was worth saving and wanted to investigate ways of making that a reality.
Jon Chadwell and the Newport Economic Development Commission recognized the bridge’s potential as a community asset and decided to help. Chadwell enlisted the help of Clinton School students to help create a case study and plan to save the bridge.
The project was approved in September 2012 and a team of three Clinton School students, Foster Holcomb, Abby Olivier, and James Stephens, started on the project right away.
The team sought community input and identified best practices, then recommended various adaptive reuses including an educational and historical walking trail, an events venue or art gallery, and a consideration to use the bridge as a component or catalyst of a larger downtown revitalization project. Walkability and rails-to-trails were at the forefront of the recommendations.
On Friday, January 10th, Clinton School students, Foster Holcomb, Abby Olivier, and James Stephens, along with the Newport Economic Development Commission, won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Preservation Advocacy from the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas for their work on the White River Bridge Adaptive Reuse Case Study in Newport, AR.
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