Bridge to the Clinton Library Gets Stimulus Funding

The Clinton Presidential Library and Museum is located off I-30 in Little Rock, Ark., about a 10-minute drive from Little Rock National Airport. The library is just south of the Arkansas River where the historic Rock Island Railroad Bridge spans the river.

The first regularly scheduled train service across the bridge was back on Dec. 10, 1899, the Memphis to Oklahoma City route. A lift span was added to the 1,614 ft. bridge in 1972.

The bridge is no longer used by the railroad, and in fact, is closed even to pedestrians. The Clinton foundation originally agreed to renovate the bridge in 2001, a quid pro quo for leasing the land for the center from the city of Little Rock for a mere $1 a year. Little Rock agreed to contribute $1 million toward the bridge renovation and the Clinton Foundation estimated it would contribute another $4 million to the project.

The bridge renovation has been stalled for seven years, during which time the cost estimates have skyrocketed. An Arkansas congressional delegation sought $8 million from the state budget this year, but to no avail.

Fortunately for Arkansas and the other 49 states, Congress authorized the $787 billion stimulus package in February 09. Arkansas’ share of the pie is $80.8 million, which will mostly go to modernizing and repairing schools and colleges. The Clinton Foundation lobbied for some monies to go the bridge project and will received $2.5 million in stimulus money. The current projected cost to repair the bridge now stands at $10.5 million. The Clinton Foundation announced in early Oct. that with the $2.5 million in stimulus money and donations of materials, it now can cover $8.5 million of the project cost and is making progress at raising the additional funding.