Lee Bey: The Urban Observer: Gimme the Bridge, Y'all

(photos by Lee Bey)

For years, I assumed this modern bridge over Lake Shore Drive at North Avenue was built in the 1960s--maybe the late 1950s at best.

But this is Chicago, where bridge design is an art form. The bridge wasn't designed in 1959, I found out when I worked for the city. Try 1939. Gone with the Wind was in the theaters when this bridge was being put together. The U.S. hadn't even entered World War II yet. All that put this bridge in an entirely different light for me.

The city sponsored a design competition back in 2003 to replace this bridge and bring a few new others to south and north Lake Shore Drive. PSA-Dewberry was picked to design a new bridge for this site. But there hasn't been any significant movement on the entire competition since then. Preservationists consider the bridge endangered. They figure--and rightly, I might add--once City Hall has its heart set on demolishing a structure, it almost never disappoints itself. Preservation Chicago has a nice historical essay on the bridge here.

Meanwhile, this excellent piece of work holds on. She's a little creaky but she still cuts a fine figure. And rather than replace this gem, the city should do what it takes to restore it.