Ethan Dahlen and Clayton McMahan
58 minutes ago
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WAYNE) — As Fort Wayne continues to grow, history tends to get lost, but one landmark whose birth year coincides with the start of the Spanish-American War won’t suffer the same fate.
In 1898, the city completed the Mechanic Street Bridge. Until recently, this bridge carried pedestrians from Mechanic Street to St. Mary’s River to Swinney Park, but the bridge has seen better days.
“This bridge is currently closed to traffic and prohibited for use,” reads a message to the Fort Wayne City Council from Dave Weedock, project management manager for the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department.
The message was accompanied by an ordinance approved by the Fort Wayne City Council on Tuesday night in an 8-0 vote awarding more than $1 million to repair the bridge.
“The scope of the project allows for a fully functional bridge,” the message from Weedock continued.
The $1,277,309.76 will cover a number of repairs, ranging from replacing lower chord pins and rivets to upgrading the bridge’s decorative surfaces.
Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Director Steve McDaniel said the department has received feedback from residents about what the bridge represents and recognizes the importance of maintaining it.
“We’ve been contacted by some members of the public who want to make sure we’re not going to jeopardize that connection,” McDaniel said.
It took longer than expected for the department to secure funding through bids, but with funding in hand and the project approved by the Fort Wayne City Council, McDaniel said he expects repairs to be completed in four to six months. Are expected.
“Hopefully we can get all the work done and open towards the end of the summer,” McDaniel said.