By MAKIYA SEMINERA and ALLEN G. BREED Associated Press
Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene’s devastating pathway through western North Carolina, a vibrant tourist attraction offering visitors a serene escape in the Blue Ridge Mountains is being torn down.
Like many other beloved sites in the region, the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge in Rutherford County crumpled from the relentless floods and winds from remnants of Helene last September. Now, the town of Lake Lure said Thursday that it will start its demolition of the historic structure later this month.
While the three-arched bridge dates back to 1925, it didn’t become the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge until almost a century later. Once the bridge was decommissioned, a group of local volunteers, Friends of the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge, worked to enhance it by adding its iconic gardens in 2013, according to the group’s website. The bridge attracted more than 150,000 visitors annually, said Linda Reandeau, a master gardener and the group’s marketing chair.
But then Helene brought destruction to western North Carolina last year, with the Lake Lure area — which served as a backdrop for a few scenes in “Dirty Dancing” — sustaining some of the worst damage. The town of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village, as well as the lake itself, were covered in a layer of disfigured debris. The area still hasn’t recovered, but tourist attractions such as Chimney Rock State Park have reopened.
In the Flowering Bridge’s case, one end of the structure completely collapsed. Several other points also buckled from the damage, and its lush greenery was swept away in the storm. Over the past 11 months, the bridge has only continued to deteriorate, Reandeau said.
“It would have been 100 years old this year,” she said. “To see it destroyed as it was in the storm was very emotional and heartbreaking for me, along with all the other volunteers and so many people who have visited.”
The decision to demolish the bridge came after two engineering firms concluded that it couldn’t be restored, according to the town’s website. Demolition is expected to start on Aug. 18.
While the bridge will no longer remain, Reandeau said the landmark’s volunteer group is in the planning process for how to move forward. The nonprofit is waiting for occupancy certification to reopen its relatively unscathed education center, where it can hold gardening and art classes — and hopefully install new gardens nearby, Reandeau said.
“We haven’t gone away, we’re still here, and we really look forward to the day we can welcome back visitors to the gardens,” she said. “We fully intend to make another magical space. It’s just not going to happen immediately.”