A new addition to Ram Pasture is coming now that the Borough of Newtown Board of Burgesses unanimously approved $38,500 for funding to help build a brand new arched garden bridge. The approval occurred during the board's July 11 meeting.

The bridge will be located on Deep Brook, which flows through the historic property into Hawley Pond, “to increase the accessibility of Ram Pasture,” Newtown Village Cemetery Association Vice President Gregory Smith said Tuesday evening.

The cemetery association owns and maintains Ram Pasture.

The planned arched pedestrian footbridge will span the brook to enable easier access to both sides of the pasture. Currently, there is off-street parking available on Hawley Road and along the eastern side of Elm Drive, which both border the pasture. The property is also bordered by Sugar Street to the north and South Main Street to the east.

The proposed bridge will measure 20 feet long by 6 feet wide, and will be constructed with stained pressure-treated pine, with cement footings. The arch design will help keep the bridge accessible, even during occasional times when the brook is overflowing, the Burgesses were told.

Talks regarding the bridge began in 2021, with the project being taken on by Greg Smith and his grandfather, R. Scudder Smith, who died last August during development. With the elder Smith’s passing, the bridge will be dedicated to him upon completion, to honor his decades spent on the board of NVCA, along with his dedication to maintaining the cemetery and pasture.

Scudder Smith was also the publisher of this newspaper at the time of his death.

Prior to the meeting, the younger Smith was able to receive a certificate of appropriateness for the design of the bridge from Newtown Borough Historic District. Smith appeared before the burgesses with a request for funding.

Having the bridge would not only open up both sides and create more accessibility to the entire Ram Pasture, he said, but it would also “invite and open the Pasture to Newtown’s families, and create more of an inviting atmosphere.”

Members of the board, including Burgess Jim Gaston and Senior Burgess Chris Gardner, expressed how much they liked the design, with Gaston making the motion to approve the $38,500 from the Borough's American Rescue Plan allocation to help underwrite materials and labor costs.

The motion was then unanimously approved by the board.

Burgess Maureen Crick Owen noted that the bridge would be "nice to have" for the upcoming Bicentennial Celebration for the Borough of Newtown.

The time table of completion for the bridge is to be determined. Smith said NVCA was waiting to see if funding would be approved, "and move from there,” he said, before noting team has already consulted with a contractor and is planning for an estimated fall opening.

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Intern/Reporter Owen Brown can be reached at owen@thebee.com.