An investment the city says it would have made earlier if not for prior economic hardships is now rolling on the downtown riverfront.
A “facelift” for the beloved Riverwalk, touted by the City of Wilmington as its top tourist attraction, will involve just less than $8 million worth of projects, some already underway, and will ultimately enable an uninterrupted stroll along the Cape Fear River from Chandler’s Wharf to the Isabel Holmes Bridge.
Notably, the portion running behind the historic Brooks Building at 18 S. Water St. will be ripped away completely and replaced with a freestanding walk over wood pilings, according to information from the city.
The cost for that section alone is $1.76 million, the city says. The 14-month job is expected to begin later this year.
A short skip south, and slated to begin next month, will be a $466,000 project to replace an old concrete retaining wall with a steel bulkhead at Muters Alley and, later, the stabilization of the retaining walls at the Riverwalk accesses at Orange Street and Ann Street.
Already moving is the replacement or repair of 58 steel support beams under the Riverwalk at the foot of Market Street, a $637,000 investment set for completion next month.
“The construction of a significant stretch of Riverwalk just north of the [Wilmington Convention Center] is underway and should be complete in September,” the city said in a bulletin last week, noting that portion will leg along a marina in development there. When complete, a final two sections will begin to build toward the existing Riverwalk and make for a steady 1.75 miles of walkway from Chandler’s Wharf northward to the Holmes Bridge. The budget is $5.1 million.
For later, in coordination with the city’s planned overhaul of South Water Street in front of the Alton Lennon Federal Building, the U.S. Coast Guard will render repairs to the bulkhead it owns there.
When that happens, the corresponding section of the Riverwalk–and Water Street–will close for a period, the city says.
Related stories:
Crane, barge downtown part of riverfront improvement job
For Riverfront Park, transformation envisioned
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
