|
Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Weekend benefit for Bridge on Move project
A project to move a historic 130-foot bridge to serve as a pedestrian access bridge over an inlet of the lake at
the Marlin Fogle Recreation Area near Diagonal is underway. A fund-raiser to help with the proposed $68,533 cost of moving
the bridge to the new site is being planned for Saturday and Sunday, July 9-10, at the lake. Free camping will be
allowed Saturday for one night only with no reserving of spots permitted. A pork barbecuse will be served from 11 a.m.
until it is gone on Sunday for a free-will donation. In addition, other donations are being sought and can be made
to "Bridge On The Move" c/o US Bank, 101 S. Fillmore, Mount Ayr, IA 50854. In the fall f 2003, the Ringgold county
board of supervisors closed a portion of 170th Street in Grant township. The closed portion of the road contains a historic
130-foot bridge constructed in 1910. The bridge is located four miles southwest of the Marlin Fogle Recreation Area.
A new project would save the historic bridge and put it to new use at the lake area as a pedestrian access bridge over the
inlet of the lake between the campground and the boat ramp and walking trail. The plan is for the bridge to provide an
additional attraction to the park area and provde safe pedestrian access between areas of the lake. Pedestrian access
between the campground and boat ramp is currently provided only by travel out of the park by city streets and county
highway or by use of a distant walking trail. Fishing could also be done from the bridge allowing more fishing by people
without boats. It is estimated that the project will cost some $68,533, including moving the bridge, preparation of the
site and construction of concrete abutments for the new bridge location. The Ringgold county board of supervisors has
allocated $10,000 toward the project. Longfellow Drilling, Inc. is donating $7,000 and $5,000 in volunteer labor has
been designated. A recent grant from the South Central Iowa Community Foundation has added another $3,000 to the total of
$25,000 already raised for the project. The county board of supervisors believes that athe $10,000 toward the
project would be less than what it would cost for demolition of the massive structure. Since the campground and park
began development in 1990, in excess of $5000,000 has been raised to finance the project. The park now has 32 modern
campsites with electric connection, water access and charcoal grills. There are also a number of primitive campsites
throughout the park as well as a shelter house and picnic area. There is a playground area with $10,000 of modern
equipment as well as a mile walking trail, boat ramp, heated shower house and rest rooms, sewer dumping station for
campers and four furnished rental cabins which sleep four to six people. Three new homes have been built on property
adjacent to the lake area since its construction as well. A good deal of preliminary work has been done to estimate
the cost of the project, according to committee members. The time line for the project will be determined as soon as
the funding is found. Members of the Bridge on the Move committee include Melinda ENGLAND, Kenny LARSEN, Ed FLETCHER,
Arlene SOBOTKA, Alan BENTLEY and Bryan COOK.
Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, June 16, 2005
An artist's sketch shows what the 1910 bridge might look like in place over an inlet of the
lake at the Marlin Fogle Recreational Area near Diagonal. A fund-raising effort is being made to move the bridge to the
lake.
Project would move historic bridge to park near Diagonal
A project to move a historic 130-foot bridge to serve as a pedestrian access bridge over an inlet of the lake at
the Marlin Fogle Recreation Area near Diagonal is underway.
A fund-raiser to help with the proposed $68,533 cost of moving the bridge to the new site is being planned for Saturday
and Sunday, July 9-10, at the lake. Free camping will be allowed Saturday, July 9, for one night only with no reserving of spots permitted. A
pork barbecue will be served from 11 a.m. until it is gone on Sunday, July 10, for a free will donation. In addition, other
donations are being sought and can be made to "Bridge On the Move" c/o U.S. Bank, 101 S. Fillmore, Mount Ayr, IA 50854.
In the fall of 2003, the Ringgold county board of supervisors closed a portion of 170th Street in Grant township. The
closed portion of the road contains a historical 130-foot bridge construction in 1910. The bridge is located four miles
southwest of the Marlin Fogle Recreation Area. A new project would save the historical bridge and put it to new use
at the lake area as a pedestrian access bridge over the inlet of the lake between the campground and the boat ramp and
walking trail. The plan is for the bridge to provide an additional attraction to the park area and provide safe
pedestrian access between area of the lake. Pedestrian access between the campground and boat ramps is currently provided
only by travel out of the part by city streets and county highway or by use o a distant walking trail. Fishing could
also be done from the bridge allowing more fishing by people without boats. It is estimated that the project will cost some
$68,533, including moving the bridge, preparation of the site and construction of concrete abutments for the new bridge
location. The Ringgold county board of supervisors has allocated $10,000 toward the project, Longfellow Drilling Inc. is
donating $7,000 and $5,000 in volunteer labor has been designated. A recent grant from the South Central Iowa Community
Foundation has added another $3,000 to the total of $25,000 already raised for the project. The county board of
supervisors believes that the $10,000 toward the project would be less than what it would cost for demolition of the
massive structure. Since the campground and park began development in 1990, in excess of $500,000 has been raised to
finance the project. The park now has 32 modern campsites with electric connections, water access and charcoal grills.
there are also a number of primitive campsites throughout the park as well as a shelter house and picnic area. There is a
playground area with $10,000 of modern equipment as well as a mile walking trail, boat ramp, heated shower house and
rest rooms, sewer dumping station for campers and four furnished rental cabins which sleep four to six people. Three
new homes have been built on property adjacent to the lake area since its construction as well. A good deal of
preliminary work has been done to estimate the cost of the project, according to committee members. The time line for
the project will be determined as soon as the funding is found. Members of the Bridge on the Move committee include Melinda
ENGLAND, Kenny LARSEN, Ed FLETCHER, Arlene SOBOTKA, Alan BENTLEY and Bryan COOK.
Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Fund-raiser adds $3,000 for Bridge On the Move fund
Over 200 people took part in the fund-raiser for the Birdge on the Move project at Diagonal's Marlin Fogle Recreation
Area Sunday. Over $3,000 was raised from the pork barbecue served at noon in the successful event. The fund-raiser
was for the project to move a historic 130-foot bridge to serve as a pedestrian acess bridge over an inlet of the lake.
In the fall of 2003, the Ringgold county board of supervisors closed a portion of 170th Street in Grant township. The
closed portion of the road contains a historic 130-foot bridge constructed in 1910. The bridge is located four miles
southwest of the Marlin Fogle Recreation Area. A new project would save the historic bridge and put it to new use at
the lake area as a pedstrian access bridge over the inlet of the lake between the campground and the boat ramp and
walking trail. The plan is for the bridge to provide an addition attraction to the park area and provide safe pedestrian
access betwee areas of the lake.
Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Engineering students work on bridge project
On February 4, five students from the Iowa State University engineering program visited with members of the Bridge on
the Move committee. The students are members of a senior engineering design class that will study the bridge project
and design a plan to move the bridge from its current location on 170th Street near Diagonal to its new proposed location
at Fogle Lake Recreation Area. The main focus of the team will be to design the new bridge abutments that will be
used when the bridge is relocated to the recreation area. Zach GUNSOLLEY, former Diagonal resident and an engineering
graduate of Iowa State University, and Dr. Max PORTER, engineering instructor at Iowa State University, will assist
the team.
Pictured above are members of the senior design team, L-R: Curtis LOGAN, Woodley MILORD, A. J. MONTEFUSCO, Jack SWAGGERT,
Sabbash THAKRAR and Zach GUNSOLLEY. Not pictured is team member Rosemary HAMLIN.
Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, May 17, 2006
Grant means Bridge on the Move can move
It's a go for the Bridge on the Move project at Fogle Lake Recreation Area near Diagonal. That's the word this week after
a Community Attractions and Tourism grant from the Iowa Department of Economic Development was approved for the project.
The CAT grant will provide $34,142 of the $68,335 needed to save the 96-year-old bridge and move it to the lake park.
The project calls for the relocation of an overhead steel truss, steel pin connected bridge that the Ringgold county board of
supervisors was going to get rid of. The bridge will be placed across a lake inlet to provide greater accessibility to the
recreational facilities, handicapped accessilbe fishing as well as conservation of the historic bridge. Kevin REIHER of
Lorimor will do the actual moving of the bridge from its present location to the lake. Planners of the project had checked
with the Iowa National Guard to see if the bridge could be moved with a helicopter, but the weight of the bridge was too
much. The grant will allow the project to go ahead through donations for the project are still being accepted to help with
the matching costs. Dennis HILGER from the Southern Iowa Resource Conservation and Development office helped the group
apply for the CAT grant. The funds from the program to aid smaller projects which will promote Iowa tourism and is
funded at the rate of $12 million annually.
Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, November of 2012
| 
