Preserving bridge to past

Barricaded and fenced off, a well-worn concrete section of Cape Girardeau's old Mississippi River bridge awaits demolition -- its roadway now a bridge to nowhere as the once-linked steel spans have been razed by demolition blasts.

But Mayor Jay Knudtson hopes this last piece of the 76-year-old bridge -- the concrete-railed entrance at the end of Morgan Oak Street -- can be saved from the wrecking ball that could start tearing it down in 30 days.

He wants the city to preserve it as a historic landmark and turn it into a scenic overlook, complete with story boards to tell visitors about the one-time grandeur of Cape Girardeau's first river bridge. The observation deck also could include viewing scopes to give visitors a closer look at the river.

Knudtson even envisions the possibility of recreating the toll booth that once stood in front of the bridge. Motorists paid tolls to cross the river bridge for 29 years, ending in 1957.

The remaining section of the bridge is a 250-foot-long concrete ramp that rises to a height of about 20 to 25 feet from the beginning of the ramp at Morgan Oak Street and includes an archway. With some renovations, it could draw visitors who want to get a good look at the river and the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, the mayor said.

"It could serve as a major tourist attraction," he said, adding that it would save "a piece of Cape Girardeau's history."

The project would require some improvements to provide parking next to the bridge structure, city officials said.

City planner Kent Bratton said changes would have to be made to Morgan Oak Street regardless of whether the bridge structure remains as a lookout or is torn down. City officials haven't finalized any plans, but the possibilities range from extending Morgan Oak Street to Aquamsi Street, to placing a permanent barricade at the end of the dead end or creating some type of turn-around.

Knudtson said turning the bridge structure into a scenic overlook would complement Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus. The university is developing the River Campus, which includes a planned welcome center on the grounds and a terrace trail overlooking the Mississippi River just south of the old bridge ramp.

Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins likes the idea of turning the bridge ramp into an observation deck. But Dobbins said the structure won't be a part of the River Campus. It would be up to the city to maintain it, he said.

For the bridge overlook project to proceed, the Missouri Department of Transportation would first have to transfer ownership of the bridge and liability for the structure to the city, MoDOT district engineer Scott Meyer said.

A demolition contractor has been tearing down the old bridge in recent months, blasting apart the steel spans that cross the wide river.

Raising nostalgia

The demolition blasts have drawn widespread public interest and sparked the mayor's desire to save this last piece of the structure with its massive archway and decorative bridge emblem, which carries the construction date of 1927.

"I became a bit nostalgic about the whole thing," Knudtson said Wednesday. The mayor said some residents also have contacted him, expressing support for saving the structure.

Knudtson admits the city is engaged in an 11th-hour effort to save the bridge ramp. But he said city officials had previously been told by the Missouri Department of Transportation that the entire bridge had to be removed.

Removing the old bridge was a condition of getting the federal permit needed to build the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, which opened to traffic last December.

But MoDOT officials, responding to the mayor's inquiry, have now indicated that the city might be able to keep this section of the bridge.

A section of a steel span that still stands over Aquamsi Street and the railroad tracks remian to be torn down along with a concrete pier on the Missouri shore.

City manager Doug Leslie said the remaining concrete ramp would end about 300 feet from the river's edge.

Bratton said this isn't the first time that the bridge has been proposed as a lookout. Bratton said the public has raised various preservation proposals over the past 14 years, ranging from saving the whole bridge to saving part of it.

One past suggestion was to create a lookout that would extend to the river bank. Leslie said the latest proposal for saving part of the bridge is far less involved.

At the request of the city council, MoDOT officials have checked with various federal and state agencies including the Corps of Engineers. MoDOT's Meyer said Wednesday that so far agencies have expressed no opposition.

"Maybe we were just too quick to eliminate the concept of retaining a piece of that bridge," Knudtson said.

City officials are looking at what it would cost to repair the concrete structure and turn it into a river observation platform. The city council also wants to know what it would cost the city to demolish the structure if the city ultimately decides to scrap the observation-deck project.

If the project is too costly, the city won't pursue it, Knudtson said.

City officials hope to have some cost estimates by the Oct. 18 council meeting.

Councilwoman Evelyn Boardman worries that the project could prove expensive. "I'm not completely sold on saving any of that bridge," she said.

Knudtson said the city might tap into some of the Convention and Visitors Bureau motel and restaurant tax money to help fund the project. Civic clubs also might be persuaded to help finance the work, Knudtson said.

If the concrete section of the bridge is preserved, the state will realize some savings in what is paid the demolition contractor, Midwest Foundation Corp. of Tremont, Ill.

The current contract is for $2.23 million, but that assumes the entire bridge is removed.

Meyer said he doubts any savings could be shifted to the city to pay for preserving the bridge section.

Meyer told city officials that demolishing the bridge structure won't happen for about a month.

"If we don't have a decision by then, then we will have to proceed to take it down," Meyer said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123