As a result of its successful (and ongoing) fundraising campaign, the Richmond BridgePark Foundation
has commissioned a team of world-class consultants to further examine options for its ambitious
plan to link downtown Richmond with a linear park across the James River.

This next phase of research and idea development builds on the inspired concept design created by Richmond and Los Angeles based architecture firm, Spatial Affairs Bureau, in 2015. Timmons Group assisted in the civil engineering aspects of the 2015 study. That concept development prompted an extensive community engagement process to receive valuable feedback, make concept improvements, and begin fundraising and preparation for Phase 2 of architecture and engineering work.

A possible version of the Bridge Park — looking south down the revamped Manchester Bridge.

Phase 2 planning will be led by Spatial Affairs Bureau and New York based engineering firm,
Buro Happold, structural engineers for The High Line in New York.

“We are humbled by the community’s overwhelming support and thrilled to work with this extraordinarily accomplished team. The popularity of the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge coupled with the exciting projects pending downtown make now an ideal time for us to contribute a vision to our City,” said Ted Elmore, BridgePark President.

The Foundation has an office in Riverfront Plaza downtown, where they display a scale model of the proposed site. The office regularly receives community leaders and student groups to learn more about the project and engage in educational programming around architecture, design, planning, and ideation.

RichmondBizSense.com’s Jonathan Spiers reported that the foundation intends “to complete this latest planning phase by the end of this quarter, after which results will be presented to the public. [Elmore] said the phase will include engagement with the community and getting feedback on the concepts.”