Pieces of the old Red Bridge will be used to revamp Keremeos.
Marg Coulson, CAO for the Village said the public works department held onto pieces of the old Red Bridge when it was reconstructed in 2005.
“We said we have all these things we want to do in the pocket park and up at the entry sign and the guys came back and told me they already had the wood,” she said. “That’s huge because that’s the major cost in a lot of these things.”
The public works crew is going to take timbers and planks from the bridge to make a number of different items including a pergola for above the entry sign near Hilltop Esso.
The wood will also be used to build a message board in the pocket park along with perhaps wood guards for trees or other items.
“It’s really neat they they are going to use some of this old wood to do these new projects. I’m so glad they had the foresight to hold onto it,” she said.
In addition to items made from the red bridge wood, there are a number of other things that are going in at the pocket park including benches, trees, and possibly a covered seating area.
Coulson said over the last week a number of inquiries have come forward from residents wanting to donate to help beautify the village.
Council approved a policy on donations to the village on Monday night that outlines roughly what the formula for costing would be and the duration of the donation.
“The main change is that when someone wants to buy a bench for example they are not buying, they are renting it, for a set number of years and they get the first option to renew that at a lower price,” she said.
Although staff is still working out specific costs for items like benches, Coulson said the price would include the cost to buy, maintenance, plus any administrative fee.
“We’re not looking to make a profit on this,” she said.
Coulson said the early support from the community is encouraging because there isn’t a lot of grant money available for this kind of work.
Anyone interested in finding out more should contact the village office.