Wrightsville Beach puts brakes on 'One Tree Hill' bridge jumper scene.

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“One Tree Hill” is making plans to send someone off a bridge, and Wrightsville Beach officials are not happy about it.

Town Manager Bob Simpson says the show wants to close the Causeway Drive bridge over Banks Channel from 6 to 11 a.m. Aug. 31, so it can shoot a scene of someone jumping off the bridge. He said he was told that the N.C. Department of Transportation had already approved the request.

“We do not concur,” Simpson said Thursday at a board of aldermen meeting. .

Closing the bridge would severely affect rush-hour traffic, including school buses, he said.

Although the Salisbury Street bridge would be an available alternative, access to and from the island would be cut in half.

Simpson said that at most, one lane of the Causeway Drive bridge should be closed.

Mayor Stephen Whalen expressed frustration at how the show had apparently received permission for the bridge closing with “one phone call,” as opposed to how long it often takes for the town to get responses from DOT.

Simpson also thought the stunt might violate a state ordinance against jumping off a bridge.

Simpson said Friday via e-mail that filming would not be able to proceed without a permit from the town.

He said that the town would be willing to compromise by closing one lane of the bridge, but the staff felt that the state law about jumping from bridges was a “show stopper.”

Simpson said he had been in contact with Brooke Barnhill, location manager for “One Tree Hill,” and the show was “reassessing” the proposal.

“One Tree Hill” had to change plans about filming at Wrightsville Beach earlier this year. The scripts called for shooting at night in a residential area, which would have violated town codes, and on the beach, which might have disturbed nesting turtles, so another location was chosen.

Greg Prange, executive producer at “One Tree Hill,” said bridges in downtown Wilmington and near Burgaw have been closed for filming before. “We’re a very conscientious film company and very conscious of safety,” he said.

However, as an 11-year resident of Wrightsville Beach, Prange understands that the Causeway Drive bridge is very busy and shutting it down completely might not be realistic. The show might be able to film with just a partial closure.

He said the filming might involve a stunt double, and there would be divers in the water checking for debris and other hazards. The production company’s “water safety record has been very good,” with “One Tree Hill” and “Dawson’s Creek” before it, he said.

Prange would not reveal which character is set to go off the bridge, but said there would be two new characters this season and “one or both of them” would be involved.

SOURCE : Wrightsville Beach puts brakes on 'One Tree Hill' bridge jumper scene | StarNewsOnline.com | Star News | Wilmington, NC


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