The bad news is that a section of Bridgeport, including one of the city’s public schools, will be without power on Monday. The good news is that there is no school and only one other building should be impacted that likely won’t be open as well.

 

Before retiring, former City Engineer Tom Brown wanted to get the word out that not only would a local roadway be closed this coming Monday – Feb. 20 – but that the closure would also include a power outage. Thursday afternoon, the city released an official statement that the outage and road closure was going to take place.

 

The road in question is Center Street and it will be closed from Main Street to Philadelphia Avenue. The closure will last from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

 

“We scheduled this purposely on a day when there was no school,” said Brown. “This is being done to provide electric to the new lights at the new city parking lot just off of Center Street.”

 

City workers have done much of the prep work, including the installation of an electric panel box. The last thing that needs to be done is to remove the utility pole that sits directly in the middle of the entrance to the new parking lot. While cars and vehicles can maneuver around it and have to date, it’s sitting in an area where Brown said it’s likely to get hit.

 

“We definitely have to move the pole and the transformer with it,” said Brown. “That’s just not an ideal place.”

 

Everything will be relocated to a pole at the upper end of the entrance to the parking lot. That pole was put in place in recent days.

 

Along with the school, Brown initially thought it would impact a few residential units in the area. However, the release from the city said that along with the school the only other building that will lose power is the Church of Christ that is situated on the corner of Philadelphia and Center Street.

 

In the event of bad weather, the project will have to be rescheduled. There was no word on what potential day that might be.

 

“This is the final piece of the puzzle for the parking lot,” said Brown.

 

Contact the City of Bridgeport at 304-842-8206 with questions or concerns. The city apologizes for any inconveniences this may cause.

 

Editor's Note: The picture shows the dark brown pole that needs removed that is in the middle of the entrance to the new Center Street parking lot.