Northbridge Park Breaks Ground

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. and members of City Council will be on hand Friday, Oct. 18 at the site of the new Northbridge Park at the West Ashley foot of the Cosgrove Bridge. The groundbreaking ceremony will begin at 10 a.m.
Those wishing to attend are asked to park at the nearby Scottish Rite Temple at 1501 Sam Rittenberg Blvd. where a shuttle will be provided to and from the site beginning at 9 a.m.
The park, when completed, is intended to be a comfortable spot for walking, fishing, and a place for kayakers to put-in. A parking area is also being constructed.
Before, the site was accessible only over-worn dirt paths, studded with foot-sized chunks of dumped asphalt. Basically, the site was a mess. And so was its funding. Thanks to new S.C. Department of Transportation requirements, and other city enhancements added to the plan, like a video link to the police department, the project was experiencing a significant funding shortage.
So, in some ways, this groundbreaking might never have been scheduled. But the money has been found and the vision for a more esthetically-pleasing West Ashley, as laid out by the Old Charlestowne District Task Force more than a decade ago, is finally coming closer to fruition.