Natural Bridge Plans Focus on Accessibility, Safety and Viewing
Stairs and platforms installed in the 1950s were removed several years ago over safety concerns. The new plans envision bridges, pathways and some stairs to enhance viewing of the natural structure.
A public session on the 25 percent design was held virtually on Wednesday night; DCR will be accepting comments for the next two weeks.
"Our main goal is to increase accessibility through all of the areas defined here, and all the defining features of Natural Bridge, including the parking, visitor center, dam overlook, the pen stock view, the Natural Bridge itself," said Joseph Silveira, a landscape architect and project manager with DCR. "It's our goal to unify the visitor experience through interpretive signage, proper circulation, and clear goals."
The designs presented on Wednesday were developed by Klopfer Martin Design Group, which has done planning for plazas at One Beach St. in Boston, the Fisher Hill Reservoir in Brookline, and the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst.
The proposal aligns with the master plan completed in 2025 and comprises two phases — the first looking at cultural resource preservation and site safety measures, and the second initial priority site improvements. It will affect about three acres of the 44 acre state park.
The park is named for its unique natural marble bridge that was was carved out by Hudson Brook over millions of years. The marble was quarried until the 1930s and the brook was captured through a penstock to power the mill to crush marble for use in making false teeth. The marble dam is the only one in nation.
The quarry was purchased by Edward Elder in 1950 and developed as a tourist attraction; it was acquired by the state for preservation in 1984.
The viewing platforms and staircases along the chasm that Elder installed were determined to be unsafe and removed several years ago.
"DCR is looking to implement some of the priority site improvement areas, which include parking lot, visitor center redevelopment, reimagined chasm experience and some other initial site improvements," Silveira said.
Landscape architect Daniel Norman lead the presentation through an expanded parking area near the bus loop, the creation of a bridge over a rainwater garden, accessible pathways to picnic areas and viewing platforms for the chasm and the bridge, signage and exhibits in the visitors center, and the conditions of the penstock, or sluice.
The anticipated work will include partial removal of the penstock and of the crumbling stone piers carrying it. Emergency cribbing will take place to secure the pipe and the piers by this fall to facilitate reconstruction work of the piers.
"Currently, accessibility is quite challenging here on site. ... There's an accessible path into the visitor center, but once there, you're sort of on an island," Norman said. "There's no real accessible path from that point, and certainly the path down to the dam overlook is not accessible currently."
Mark Klopfer, principal of KMDG, said one design objective was the experience of the pedestrian through the park.
"One of the new interventions that happens farther down the path is the creation of a new pedestrian bridge. So this is really necessary in order to create an accessible route down to see the natural bridge itself, so here people will have a new view to the to the dam from its center span," he said. "They'll cross over Hudson Brook to the other side ... The first sort of stop on this path is a new area that's an overlook, where you get a view of the penstock ... It also becomes an introduction to the chasm, where you can start to see down the chasm in the other direction."
There will be several new decks and seating, and more accessible paths but still some stairways to get around the chasm and move to the higher elevations. The path will also go around the Blast Rock, where the workers sheltered during blastings, and a secondary accessible path from the parking area. A new bridge will also offer views closer to the dam.
Kristin Karl Carnahan, chief of interpretive services for DCR, said "with modest funds and very focused goals," a consulting firm helped with designing new interpretive exhibits and displays within the visitors center.
"We have reimagined panels interpreting the geologic formation of the area, introducing the bridge, the brook, and the chasm, which have influenced people and place over the centuries," she said. "We have new exhibits that will highlight the site's cultural significance and history, including connections to [geologist and Amherst President Edward] Hitchcock and [writer Nathaniel] Hawthorne, highlights to the quarry industry and its influence regionally and globally, including the workers and the artisans and immigrants who grew up and moved that set forward."
Displays will include artifact cases, video presentations and an enhanced quarry model.
Several questions were posed during the session, including addressing drainage and landscaping. Silveira reminded the attendees that the plans are still at 25 percent design with the goal to complete them by early fall.
He estimated Phase 1, resource preservation and site safety, to cost about $800,000; there's no funding at this point or an estimate on costs for the second phase.
State Rep. John Barrett III said there could hopefully be some funding in the environmental bond bill in the next session.
"The governor and lieutenant governor have expressed their interest in funding this, they understand the importance of it and the importance it is to the Northern Berkshire economy," he said.
Silveira, a county resident, said, "I'm very invested in Berkshire County, and I'm very excited about this project."
The presentation will be available for viewing on DCR's Past events for DCR Public Meetings Information page. DCR encourages additional feedback, with a deadline of July 22. Comments may be submitted via the DCR public comment portal. Note that submitted comments, along with name, town, and zip code, will be posted on DCR's website.
Tags: DCR, natural bridge, public hearing,
