By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
The new Clark Street bridge was formally dedicated Tuesday, Oct. 17, in a ceremony with a light touch, five days after the bridge opened for traffic.
Traffic on the bridge was blocked for a few minutes for a ribbon-cutting, but only a few in the crowd ventured onto the structure, a crowd considerably less than the thousands who walked across the bridge and danced on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
Before the ribbon-cutting, Mayor Gary Wescott said the $9 million project was one of the largest in Stevens Point in the last 50 years and established a new record for bridge replacement in the city. When a bridge was destroyed by fire on May 30, 1923, the new bridge wasn't dedicated until Jan. 1, 1926, he said. The bridge built in 1926 was closed on March 20, he said, and the new bridge was dedicated less than seven months later. "That beat the DOT (state Department of Transportation) record for a new bridge by two years and two months."
Wescott said, "The citizens of Stevens Point are to be commended for their understanding and patience during this project. They knew this bridge needed to be replaced and old sewer and water pipes needed to be replaced." An 83-year-old veteran came up and told him he knew 83-year-old pipes needed to be replaced based on his own plumbing, Wescott said.
Members of the Citizens Advisory Committee said they were thankful city officials sought citizen input for the project.
Committee member Tom Brown said, "Any time you involve citizens in what is going to be done, I think it's valuable." He said the committee wanted a bridge that was distinctive, not elegant, and he thinks that was accomplished, along with retaining as many trees along Clark Street as possible.
Bob Woehr, another committee member, said the group didn't really know what it wanted, only what it didn't want.
"What did the city get?" he asked, answering "a beautiful bridge that can be quickly converted to a dance floor for the city's 150-year celebration, a revised city ordinance that further protects trees in city right-of-way, street lighting sufficient for safety but not suntanning and a city property tax rate that hasn't increased since 1997."
He said the committee knew it didn't want "a bridge that looked like a cattle chute, clearcut logging of the boulevards, street lights of such intensity that it would rival a casino or would require a new power plant or electric power line from Duluth to generate them."
Guy Janssen, president of the Association of Downtown Businesses, welcomed the reopening of the bridge and said the businesses appreciated the support of residents for keeping downtown businesses vital in the community.
Mike Burke, district supervisor of the DOT, said the project and speed with which it was completed reflect the strong partnerships that were forged in 1993 when planning on the bridge replacement began.
State Rep. Julie Lassa, D-Plover, said she was proud of the way the DOT, local officials and the Citizens Advisory Committee worked together. "They did a wonderful job."
State Sen. Kevin Shibilski, D-Stevens Point, said the project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget. "The last time that happened was when Harry Truman was president," he said.
On Saturday, he said he will test to see if the bass fishing under the bridge is as good as it was before.
A time capsule was also buried in conjunction with the bridge dedication, to be opened 100 years from now. The capsule includes tokens allowing the bearer to make a free trip across the bridge and letters from Wescott, Superintendent of Schools Emery Babcock and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Chancellor Thomas George.