Letter: Ely’s Stone Bridge is a gem

I grew up going to Ely's Stone Bridge. When we'd go visit my Grandma and Grandpa Tschantz, I would run there to play. It was the first time I got leeches and the first time I went fishing. We had picnics, played in the crick on hot days and took walks in the woods on others. Often people would stop at the bridge to take pictures of their kids, their significant others and themselves. How many people would take a selfie at this beautiful and rare bridge if they knew it existed?

Nothing has been decided about the fixing/preserving of the bridge because the supervisors are waiting for the study being done by University of Colorado Engineering Department with their preservation plan. That's another five years of the county doing nothing to repair the bridge because the supervisors 'don't want to spend county money until they have all the information they need” and because 'you have to separate passion from reality.”

Let's take our passion and turn it into a money-making reality. Preserve the bridge and turn it into a park. Travelers would stay at hotels, camp or bike, shop at local stores and eat at restaurants. Essentially spend money in Jones County and create revenue that could pay for the repair and upkeep of the bridge.

The reality is the stone bridge is a gem that hundreds of thousands could know about if it were the Stone Bridge Park.

Katie Farrowe

Co-Owner, The Jitney Wine Bar

Monticello