Editor's note: Our Oct. 23 story on Rep. Tim Moore's FEMA announcement described the $2,255,390.10 bridge award as money to restore the pedestrian bridge, following Moore's release. The Town's own FEMA update, reviewed Oct. 25, says it does not intend to rebuild. This story picks up from there.

FEMA has now obligated money tied to the former Flowering Bridge twice in 13 months, and the Town of Lake Lure says it does not currently intend to rebuild the bridge with either award. The first, in September 2025, was $2,850,187 in total project funding. The second, announced in October 2026, is $2,505,989.00 in total, which the Town calls "in addition to previously allocated funds." If the two are additive, the money tied to the bridge comes to $5,356,176. Neither the Town nor FEMA has said so.

The Town says the flexibility is the point. It describes the money as available for "alternative critical infrastructure and recovery needs that provide broader community benefit." What it has not said is which projects will get it.

What the Town says now

In a "FEMA Funding Update" press release posted on its website, the Town says three recent obligations total nearly $9.7 million under FEMA's Section 428 Alternative Procedures Program. One of them is $2,505,989.00 "associated with the former Flowering Bridge." The Town says all three were "approved fixed cost offers," which allows "greater flexibility to address eligible recovery and resilience priorities."

On the bridge itself, the release is direct: the Town "does not currently intend to reconstruct the former pedestrian bridge." It says it will keep working with local, regional and state partners on "a long-term multimodal connectivity solution between Lake Lure and Chimney Rock" as permanent transportation improvements in the area move forward. The page we viewed carries no publication date.

The Town's release also notes that "some public announcements may reference only the federal share." Moore's Oct. 22 release listed $2,255,390.10 for the bridge.

Moore's release says the bridge award "will go to the Town of Lake Lure to fund the restoration of the pedestrian bridge between Lake Lure and Chimney Rock." The two descriptions differ, and the sections below explain how both can be on the record.

This is not a new position, but the money is new

The Town said the same thing a year ago. On Sept. 17, 2025, two days after Moore announced $2,565,168.30 in federal funding (Section 406, per his office) to replace the Flowering Bridge, Town Manager Olivia Stewman's statement said replacing the bridge "would be cost prohibitive at this time." It said the money was needed for the dam, the sewer system and public safety facilities. Flooding from Helene, it said, had nearly doubled the span a new bridge would need to cross.

According to reporting at the time, the Town described the $2.85 million as a preliminary estimate meant to cover demolition costs already incurred and to help develop accurate replacement estimates, and said it was negotiating a fixed-cost offer it expected to be "significantly higher" than early projections. Annie Dance's Substack reported that the Town paid a contractor nearly $200,000 to remove what remained of the bridge. The Town also said it might revisit a pedestrian bridge once the permanent US 64/74 roadway and a multimodal path are complete.

So the October 2026 update is consistent with what the Town said in 2025. What changed is the amount and the paperwork: a fixed-cost offer is now approved, and the Town has put a number on it.

Why FEMA allows this

Section 428 is built for this. FEMA's training material says the fixed-cost option "offers the maximum amount of flexibility with how the Applicant may use PA funding, including use of excess funds," and that there is "no requirement to rebuild communities back to what existed prior to the disaster." The same material says FEMA reviews the proposed statement of work for environmental and historic preservation before approving a project.

That last point is the one to watch. FEMA's project record will contain a statement of work for the money. If it says "restore a pedestrian bridge," the Town's plan to spend it elsewhere would be a change to the approved scope, and the paperwork for that change is a public record the Town can be asked for.

What the public still doesn't know

• Where the money goes. The Town names no projects. Its 2025 statement pointed to the dam, sewer system and public safety facilities. Its 2026 release says only "alternative critical infrastructure."
• How big the total is. The Town has not said what "previously allocated funds" means or what the combined bridge-related total is.
• What FEMA approved. Neither the Town nor Moore's office has released the project description or statement of work.
• Who owes the non-federal share. The Town says its figures include "applicable state cost share." It does not say whether the Town owes any portion.
• What the Friends group expects. In September 2025 the nonprofit said the grant would build the walkway while it raised money for the gardens. A later Mountain Xpress editor's note corrected reports that the grant would pay for a new bridge.

Why it matters

The pedestrian bridge linked Lake Lure and Chimney Rock until Helene and was a highly popular visitor attraction as the Flowering Bridge. The Town owned it and had leased it to the nonprofit for nearly a decade, according to reporting. Mountain Xpress reported in September 2025 that a tourism official estimated five to 10 years for a new pedestrian bridge, depending on funding and coordination.

There is also a fair case that this is positive news. Fixed-cost money can be spent on the priorities the Town named in 2025, such as the dam, the sewer system and public safety facilities, which a grant restricted to a bridge could not. Whether residents see it that way depends on what the Town does with it, and the Town has not yet said.

Questions for the Town

1. Which projects will the $2,505,989.00 fund, in what order, and by when?
2. What is the combined total tied to the former bridge, counting the September 2025 obligation?
3. How much of either award reimbursed the roughly $200,000 demolition?
4. What statement of work did FEMA approve, and has the Town asked FEMA to change it?
5. Does the Town owe any of the non-federal share, and which fund pays it?
6. What is the "long-term multimodal connectivity solution," who are the partners, and what is the timeline?

Public records to request

The FEMA project worksheets and fixed-cost offers for the Flowering Bridge project (both the 2025 and 2026 obligations), the approved statements of work, the Town's correspondence with FEMA and the N.C. Division of Emergency Management on scope or redirection, and any council materials discussing the fixed-cost offers.

Sources

• Town of Lake Lure, FEMA Funding Update press release (undated)
• Rep. Tim Moore, Oct. 22, 2026 release
• Rep. Tim Moore, Sept. 15, 2025 release
• Town of Lake Lure, Clarification Regarding Recent Announcement of FEMA Funding, Sept. 17, 2025
• FOX Carolina, funding not to be used for the Flowering Bridge, Sept. 2025
• BPR, FEMA grant names Flowering Bridge, but Lake Lure says project not feasible, Sept. 19, 2025
• Annie Dance, Lake Lure walks back Congressman's FEMA funding announcement
• FOX Carolina, Flowering Bridge funds, Sept. 26, 2025
• Mountain Xpress, plans to rebuild the Flowering Bridge
• FEMA, Public Assistance alternative procedures: capped projects

Last updated: 2026-10-25