By Devonte Demby

NATCHEZ — The Natchez-Adams County Community Alliance is ready to celebrate the past and break ground on a new part of the city’s future.

The group will unveil, on Oct. 9, a newly renovated bandstand gazebo and will break ground on the Bridge of Sighs.

The gazebo, a centerpiece on the bluff since the Pilgrimage Garden Club had it constructed in the 1960s, has been undergoing renovations for the last year.

The Rotary Club of Natchez led the fundraising and renovation efforts, replacing eight columns, removing shrubbery and completing painting and new landscaping.

The Bridge of Sighs — a part of the Natchez Trails Project — is a reproduction of a historic walking bridge once over Roth Hill Road. It is being funded by grant funds from the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the Federal Highway Administration. Construction cost is expected to be about $700,000.

The Community Alliance-hosted celebration will include a ribbon cutting, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The group’s hope, officer and board member Barbara Lomasney said, is that the event will be an opportunity for the community to gather as one ahead of the city’s 300th birthday, or tricentennial, in 2016.

“It demonstrates perfectly what the tricentennial is all about: commemorating the past, celebrating the present, and creating the future,” Lomasney said.

“Our hope is that the bandstand gazebo and the Bridge of Sighs will be around for several generations of locals and visitors to enjoy.”Curtis Moroney, past president of the Natchez Rotary Club, said he’s happy to see the gazebo finally restored.

“I’m just glad it’s done,” he said. “It’s very rewarding.”

Moroney gave much credit to Community Alliance Co-Chairman John Holyoak who worked closely on the project.

“He did a lot of work in the selection of contractors,” Moroney said. “John seemed to be real hands-on.”

As the groundbreaking of the Bridge of Sighs approaches, City Engineer David Gardner said final construction plans are under way.

“We are probably three weeks away from actually starting some activity out there on the ground,” Gardner said.

“It is very exciting,” Gardner said. “The Bridge of Sighs project has been in the works for three years. We want to share this with the community.”

The public is encouraged to attend the Oct. 9 celebration. Those in attendance will have the chance to win hot-air balloon rides and weekend passes for the 2014 Great Mississippi River Balloon Race.