TEXARKANA, Texas - A pair of new foot bridges at Spring Lake Park were designed with the park's history in mind.
The arched structures, on the walking trail at the south end of the park's pond, are meant to look similar to bridges in decades-old photos of the park, said Robby Robertson, director of the city Parks and Recreation Department.
"Aesthetically, I wanted them to look neat, but I also wanted to have a little bit of a piece of history in there, too," he said.
A grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department funded the bridges' construction. The same grant paid for repaving the trail around the pond and adding signs along the trail that display historical photos and information about the park.
The bridges were the last work to be funded by the grant. Construction was delayed because of pandemic-related supply chain disruptions that made building materials difficult to acquire, Robertson said.
Replacing the bridges, which cross over two runoff streams that flow from the pond, was necessary, not just decorative.
"We didn't want to put a nice new asphalt trail in and then have some issues with the walking bridges," Robertson said.
Plans for further improvements in the near future of Spring Lake Park include planting new trees around the pond and adding benches and garbage bins.