LOWER MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. — Over the past several months, Wildlands Conservancy officials have fielded comments and questions weekly — sometimes daily — from residents about when the Dorothy Rider Pool Wildlife Sanctuary will reopen to the public.
“We knew, but this further reinforced just how much the community loves the Dorothy Rider Pool Wildlife Sanctuary, and how important it is for their daily, in some cases, or weekly, connections to nature,” Wildlands Conservancy President Christopher M. Kocher said in a Tuesday phone interview.
“So just really touched by the outpouring of support and stories about just how important the sanctuary is to this community.”
Eight months since a bridge collapse caused the 77.5-acre sanctuary, at 3701 Orchid Place, to close to the public, officials said they’re working on replacing it, scrapping plans for a temporary structure and moving forward with a permanent bridge with pedestrian access in mind.
“We're working to get the permanent bridge installed and in place in early spring of 2026."Wildlands Conservancy President Christopher M. Kocher
“We're working to get the permanent bridge installed and in place in early spring of 2026,” Kocher said.
“The permanent replacement bridge is currently being fabricated, and the bid package to install the bridge and bridge abutments, and remove the center pier is going out right after the first of the year.
“So we're very, very excited.”
A permanent replacement, upgraded
The bridge into the sanctuary collapsed April 29 while a propane truck was crossing it.
While it caused no injuries nor environmental damage, the collapse forced Wildlands officials to close the sanctuary to the public until further notice.
Plans to improve the bridge already were underway before the collapse, Kocher said.
The bridge had been part of the property since at least 1975, when Leonard Parker Pool, the founder of Air Products, bequeathed the sanctuary to Wildlands to preserve it.
The new bridge is designed to allow public access into the sanctuary through a pedestrian walkway, as well as to match the look and feel of the property, Kocher said.
“That was an improvement we had in place well, well before the accident, because we realize how many people from the local community actually walk down to the sanctuary,” he said.
“We want to make sure they can safely access the property, and with the number of school programs and buses that we have coming in, it really made sense to upgrade the pedestrian component of the bridge as well.”
In addition, the new bridge won't have a central pier, an effort to lessen caught debris that could contribute to flooding.
In an interview with LehighValleyNews.com over the summer, Kocher said a temporary bridge was in the works, but those plans have since been scrapped, he said.
“Even though we would have gotten access a little quicker, it could have actually delayed the permanent replacement,” Kocher said.
“We just felt we would want to move forward to a permanent replacement bridge.”
‘It was an opportunity’
While the sanctuary is closed, residents and outdoor enthusiasts have taken to exploring Wildlands’ 13 other wildlife preserves and sanctuaries.
"It was an opportunity to have the community explore the other wonderful natural assets that Wildlands has been able to shelter over the past 50 plus years of its existence as an organization.”Wildlands Conservancy President Christopher M. Kocher
“We're definitely seeing a marked uptick in our preserves,” Kocher said. “The South Mountain Preserve and our Black River Sanctuary and our Brenner-Penfield Macungie Mountain Preserve have all seen an increase in visitor traffic.
“We do have 14 total preserves totaling about 3,000 acres, so it was an opportunity.
"I'm always looking at the silver lining, right? And it was an opportunity to have the community explore the other wonderful natural assets that Wildlands has been able to shelter over the past 50 plus years of its existence as an organization.”
Summer programming looked a little different this year with the bridge out, as campers bookend their days hiking in and hiking out of the sanctuary, and that might continue until the new bridge is in place.
“We'll still have to shuffle some of our early spring programming locations, and, very fortunately for us, we have a great network of community partners and we were able to work with them to utilize other natural spaces within our community to continue our programming,” Kocher said.
“We're hoping that the bridge is in place and functioning, and we won’t have to do that this summer. But some of those things will need to be worked out once we get things a little further along.”
‘How important this community asset is'
In the meantime, Kocher said he and the staff are very appreciative of those community members sharing how much getting access back means to them, as well as offering words of support.
“Whether it be the bridge or anything else, it just really is heartening to know how much this community supports our conservation education mission, and they really just appreciate what Wildlands does,” Kocher said.
“And moments like this, when we don't have access to the sanctuary, we fully understand how important this community asset is and we're very excited about getting it back open to the community.”
For more information and updates on the new bridge, go to Wildlands' website.
