SACO — The cost to rehabilitate the Stackpole Creek Bridge is more than originally anticipated.

The Stackpole Creek Bridge has been the center of discussion for about 15 years, as city officials debated whether to restore or replace the historic stone arch bridge, built in 1848.

The bridge has been closed to traffic since 2013. The same year, Maine Preservation put the bridge on its annual list of Maine’s most endangered historic properties.

Last November, voters approved the city borrow up to $990,000 to reopen the bridge, leaving the decision open on whether to repair or replace the structure. And in May, the City Council approved a bid to rehabilitate the bridge.

However, at a City Council workshop Tuesday night, Public Works Director Patrick Fox said officials recently consulted with a bridge expert with many years of experience working with stone bridges, and it is now apparent that the cost to rehabilitate the bridge is not in the original price range. Fox said it will cost $300,000 to $500,000 more than originally thought to restore the bridge.

“Each time we revisit the Stackpole Bridge, we learn a little bit more about it,” said Fox.

If the city still wishes to restore the bridge, it is going to have to allocate additional funds, said Fox. Otherwise, the city could replace the bridge within the original budget.

“Historic preservation is a priority in Saco,” said City Councilor Kevin Roche, referring to the results of the city’s recent 10-year visioning effort. Roche noted that at the same time, people did not want their taxes to go up, He suggested the city continue its plan to restore the bridge and borrow up to $990,000, and find the rest of the funding in money already approved in the city budget, suggesting the city look at unused end-of-year surplus in capital improvement and public works budgets.

Councilor David Precourt said he thought it was deceitful to voters to move forward with a more expensive project, and thought if the city wanted to restore the bridge, it should go out for a vote again with the new price.

Councilor Thomas Roughan asked Fox to provide the council with more detailed information on the cost of both rehabilitation and replacement of the Stackpole Creek Bridge at a future meeting.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].