New Madrid riverfront improvement projects move forward

NEW MADRID, Mo. — Residents of New Madrid along with local, state and federal officials gathered Tuesday for the groundbreaking ceremony to extend the Mississippi River levee walkway along the New Madrid Riverfront.

"We're so proud," said New Madrid Mayor Donnie Brown as he addressed the crowd at the city's river amphitheater.

Phase two of the Mississippi Riverfront Project consists of continuing construction of about 1,420 feet in length of a levee walkway on the riverside crown of the mainline levee. The levee walkway will include standard interlocking concrete pave stone, retaining wall, parking nodes, light fixtures, observation platforms with retaining walls and benches.

"When people get together — the city, government agencies and Corps of Engineers— and set the taxpayers behind it, the result is a good project, and we're here to break ground on a good one," said Mark Shelton, Southeast Missouri District engineer for Missouri Department of Transportation.

Col. Thomas P. Smith, district engineer for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Memphis, Tenn., District, said the project is a small one but also important.

The improvements will connect a section of the phase one walkway to an existing observation deck located at the east end of the New Madrid Riverfront. New items are designed to match the existing walkway.

Estimated construction cost of the proposed work is $700,000. The Corps of Engineers will award the contract later this month and construction should be completed by May 2009.

The mayor said U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and U.S. Sen. Kit Bond were instrumental in obtaining funds in the 2002 Appropriations Bill for New Madrid Riverfront improvements.

"I'm excited that since 2002, we're finally at this point, but it's most exciting for the people of New Madrid," said Emerson, who spoke the crowd.

Memphis District completed phase one of the New Madrid Riverfront improvements in 2004 at a cost of $2,662,000. These improvements included placement of sod on the riverside slope of the mainline Mississippi River levee, construction of a boat ramp, a parking lot and associated roadway and pedestrian walkway improvements.

Christina McWaters, executive director of the New Madrid Chamber of Commerce, said the walkway extension will enhance the tourism aspect of New Madrid.

"Now visitors can walk the entire levee as well as the parking nodes," McWaters said.

The expansion will also tie in with the city's garden club, which planted roses along the riverfront and Main Street to beautify the city, McWaters said.

"It's amazing how many visitors we get to the museum who enjoy the river so much. They always say: 'Why doesn't the walkway go to the observation deck?'" said Ella LaValle, volunteer of New Madrid Historical Museum. "Now we can say it does."