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Overlook at old bridge nearly doneThursday, July 12, 2007
The old Mississippi bridge overlook is nearly complete, and city officials will announce plans soon for a dedication ceremony. Viewing binoculars have been placed and all brickwork is complete at the overlook, according to Chuck Martin, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. Martin said the overlook "is part of an overall portfolio to offer visitors to the area. People can get a great view of the river with the binoculars." Federal transportation grants will reimburse 80 percent of the project costs up to $342,000, with the remaining balance of the project's $419,481 budget coming from the Convention and Visitors Bureau reserve fund, Martin said. Marla Mills, director of Old Town Cape, said the overlook's location near Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus and the Children's Museum make it a unique addition to the riverfront. "It's obviously going to be a destination for people who live here and for tourists," Mills said. "It's really going to add to what we have downtown." City planner Kent Bratton said the project has not been turned over to the city because some contracted work needs to be finished. A couple of street lights need to be installed and sod needs to be laid, he said. Bratton said the city engineer needs to declare the location substantially complete before it can be dedicated. Former city engineer Jay Stencel's July 1 departure may slow the process, as interim city engineer Kelly Green adjusts to the position, he said. Original light fixtures from the old bridge were preserved on the overlook. The lights are on a timer synchronized with the lights on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, Bratton said. The site will be cleared completely before the city will hold a dedication ceremony, said Michelle Hahn, public information manager for the city. She expects a date will be set soon. "The overlook is a great way to hold on to the heritage of the old bridge while putting a focus on the new bridge as well," she said. 335-6611, extension 122 Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
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Two words immediately come to mind.
1. Evel
2. Kneivel
Michelle Hahn said, "The overlook is a great way to hold on to the heritage of the old bridge while putting a focus on the new bridge as well."
Funny, there was just an article on Historic Bridges. Why didn't we just repair and update our old one?
This is awesome although I would have preferred a biking bridge over to Illinois this is a great second choice. Now for the great civil war musuem at the court of common pleas and the restoration of Fort D with a soldiers memorial. We also need to restore the theatre district.
Does anyone know if the binoculars will be accessible to those in a wheelchair?
Jerry66 said and I quote...
"Funny, there was just an article on Historic Bridges. Why didn't we just repair and update our old one?"
Yeah that would have been way less expensive and would make more sense anyway.
Don't forget that parts of the old bridge were falling off of it while the new one was being built. I barely wanted to drive across the old, I would never have thought about a leisurely walk acrossed it.