Fund drive to help create Tiverton Stone Bridge waterfront park

TIVERTON — They’ve already got much of the money they need to transform the former waterfront gas station property at Stone Bridge, and now a group is working to raise the final $100,000.

“The old gas station on Main Road has been demolished, opening up a beautiful view to the Sakonnet River,” said Liz Colbert of the Grinnell’s Beach Improvement Committee. “Planned designs include beach expansion, bathhouse renovation, and a beautifully landscaped waterfront park and a pavilion area, shielded from the sun by a sail structure.”

Cost to accomplish that is pegged at $515,0000, of which approximately $412,000 has already been provided in grants from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the Rhode Island Foundation, and the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council.

That leaves $100,000 that the Grinnell’s Beach Improvement Committee is seeking to raise “to bring this from reimagined to reality. Please consider making a donation to help beautify Tiverton,” Ms. Colbert said.

Constriction is pegged to begin in late spring and coincides with the long-promised state Stone Bridge Abutment overhaul.

The state, with state and federal funds, intends to shore up the crumbling abutment on the Tiverton side to provide a place for people to walk, take in the view and go fishing. That abutment also provides protection to Tiverton Basin (the town’s only harbor) from storm waves out of the south.

Much of abutment’s interior support has washed away leaving large voids beneath the remaining pavement. The structure was fenced off several years ago. By so doing access to the town’s dock and float for visiting boaters was also blocked.

The abutment on the Portsmouth side has also deteriorated but there are presently no firm plans to strengthen it.

To donate to the project, contact Liz Colbert, Grinnell’s Beach Improvement Committee, at colberte@msn.com

For more on the effort, visit the Facebook page: Stone Bridge Reimagined.