Bridge's final touch

Kitty Rueseler's Christmas present was well worth the wait.

"It's pretty wonderful," said the silver-haired matriarch as she stood on the old Mississippi River bridge with her grandchildren and about 100 other guests of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

The group gathered on the 75-year-old structure following a dinner reception for those who donated to a special lighting project for the $100 million Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

As the 140 decorative lights outlining the bridge gradually began to glow, they transformed the white cables into laserlike beams crisscrossing the night sky. Spectators clapped and whistled. Some posed for photos with the new bridge in the background.

"Whoa! That's awesome," said Bob Hendrix as lights reached the peak of illumination. "That is first class. God, that is beautiful."

Rueseler's light was purchased by her son and daughter-in-law, Rob and Janet. They also bought a light for Janet's mother, she said.

The lighting event was especially meaningful for her family because of their history with the old bridge. Her late husband, Vince, walked across the old bridge during its opening ceremony 75 years ago, and his father, A.P. Rueseler, was the first person to drive across it, she said.

"It's just really special," she said.

Bridge engineer Stan Johnson of the Missouri Department of Transportation watched the lights with his children. As overseer of construction, Saturday night was the visual finale of his efforts.

"It's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me," he said. "There's some final paperwork and reports for me to do, but nothing else really that will be in the public view."

The group gathered outside to watch the lights after a social hour at the Knights of Columbus hall on Spanish Street, a short distance away.

Area lawyer John Layton and Dr. C. Nelson Ringer suggested the idea of outfitting the bridge with decorative lights to the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce in 1993.

Layton reviewed the project history and a timeline of the new bridge's construction with the guests before the group adjourned to view the lights.

Large 1,000-watt lamps illuminate the 300-foot towers, which now dominate Cape Girardeau's skyline. Smaller 400-watt bulbs are base-mounted on the side of the bridge to shine upward, illuminating the 128 cables that support the bridge.

The lights will run from dusk to midnight daily. Towboat captains will be able to send signals automatically turning off the decorative lights when they pose a navigation problem. Streetlights and navigational lights will remain on all night.

Strategically placed

The chamber requested donations of $2,500 for the larger lights and $250 for the smaller ones. Because of the strategic placement of the lights, drivers should not be distracted.

Two large plaques will be on the western side of the bridge with names of donors and memorials offered by some.

The chamber is also offering prints of an artist's rendering of the completed bridge to help reach the campaign's goal of 20 percent local funding. The prints are selling for $200 each.

The money raised through the lights paid for about $110,000 of the total cost of the project, while the remainder, about $400,000, is coming from a federal enhancement grant.

While the Missouri Department of Transportation will maintain the lights, the chamber will pay the cost to run them, at least initially, said area engineer Scott Meyer.

"After a year's worth of operation, we'll have a better idea of the cost it takes," he said. "They may want to shorten the hours to mitigate the costs."

The next significant event will be the destruction of the old bridge, expected later this year.

"Next week, we'll have a prebid conference for businesses," Meyer said. "We've had several calls on it already. It's kind of a specialized field."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160