The fate of a small bridge in River Canard is up for discussion later this month.
Amherstburg council will decide what to do with the bridge on 2nd Concession North over the Long Marsh Drain. The bridge is in need of repairs and administration is presenting three options.
Those options could include demolition, removal or replacement.
Carmel Ravanello family's property is located at 2041 2nd Concession North, which is directly in front of the bridge.
She says it's a historic bridge and wants the town to preserve it.
"It's not just because of River Canard, if you do any research on these bridges, you'll see that they are, really is a heritage type of structure and it's ashamed that they, these bridges are being demolished throughout southwestern Ontario," says Ravanello.
Bridge on 2nd Concession in River Canard sometimes known as the 'Ravanello bridge' (Canoeing Canucks YouTube Channel screenshot)
Amherstburg's Manager of Engineer Todd Hewitt says the bridge is a smaller version of the River Canard Bridge.
"It's a very similar bow-string design," says Hewitt. "It's about maybe a kilometre or two away from the bridge, the bigger one on River Canard by St. Joe's church."
Ravanello says the town didn't notify residents.
"We just happen to find out because there was a gentleman out there kind of measuring the bridge and we stopped by and just talked to him for a minute so we were kind of disappointed, we hadn't been notified, I'm not sure anybody has been notified about this so that was a surprise to us," says Ravanello.
Hewitt says repairs are needed.
"We're not saying we're going to close the structure," says Hewitt. "We're giving three options with respect to how we can either rehabilitate it or replace the structure."
The town has set aside close to $365,000 in its 2017 budget for the bridge work. Council will debate the issue on May 23rd.