Council Decision on Belmont Bridge related grant a disappointment

I was amazed at the reluctance of three members of council to work with the Univ. of Virginia School of Architecture to submit a grant request to explore opportunities for enhanced artistic and cultural connectivity in design of the replacement Belmont Bridge. The grant could possibly provide up to $150,000 to increase the connectedness of Belmont neighborhood with Charlottesville's downtown mall area.

Check out the design concept for a replacement bridgeshown above and published at the Charlottesville Tomorrow blog - http://cvilletomorrow.typepad.com/charlottesville_tomorrow_/2012/01/project-gaitway.html - to see how badly attention to artistic and cultural elements are needed in this project. And this project is often referred to as a gateway to downtown Charlottesville.