Planning Process funded by Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation

Panel to Hear Design Proposals For Neuse River Pedestrian Bridge

The 22 members of a special artist selection panel will consider design proposals for a bridge over the Neuse River Thursday (Jan. 10, 2008) from two North Carolina artist teams and a Florida architect-sculptor. The North Carolina and Florida artists were selected as semi-finalists in October 2007 following a Southeastern design competition conducted by Pride of Kinston.

Pride's planning and selections process for a pedestrian bridge recently won a $12,000.00 grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation based in Winston-Salem, NC.

A pedestrian bridge over the Neuse River connecting downtown Kinston with the popular Neuseway Nature Center emerged as the first priority in a river development plan conceived by Kinston residents in partnership with Pride and North Carolina State University's College of Design. The overall multifaceted plan covering a six to eight mile stretch of the Neuse around Kinston is seen as a major economic development strategy for the city and county which will encourage new investments and enhanced tourism.

The plan also envisions a riverwalk along the Neuse, similar to the one shown here, built recently by the City of Swansboro along its waterfront overlooking the White Oak River. An amphitheater is also envisioned on the riverbank in the general area of where a river walk and the pedestrian bridge connects with downtown.

The panel meeting to hear design proposals will be held in Room 313 of the Kinston Enterprise Center, 327 N. Queen Street, beginning at 9:30 am.

The three designs under consideration will be on display in various sites around Kinston to solicit citizen comment over the next three weeks. They will also be posted on Pride of Kinston's website: www.downtownkinston.com.

Those selected in October as semi-finalists were:

• A team of three artists in Hillsborough, NC—Al Frega, Leah Foushee, Michael Waller—who have been heavily involved in Durham's downtown renaissance, involving projects in the Durham Historic Warehouse District, the American Tobacco Historic District and the Central Park District. They have also worked on projects in Winston-Salem at the NC School of the Arts, and the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh. Waller is a native of Kinston.
   
• A two-person team of Jim Hirschfield and Sonia Ishii of Chapel Hill, NC. Hirschfield has been a member of the UNC at Chapel Hill faculty since 1988 and he and Ms. Ishii has collaborated on more than 40 public art projects including bridges in Phoenix, AZ; Albuquerque, NM; and the North Carolina Zoo. They have won numerous grants and awards since 1980, and commissions for projects throughout the US and Canada.
   
• Charles Sharrod Partin, architect and sculptor in New Port Richey, FL. Mr. Partin has worked on public art projects and designed numerous award winning schools, homes, office buildings and churches. Sculpture of his design are throughout Florida and in Colorado, Charlotte, NC, Endicott, Neb., and Quebec.