Route 66 fans and preservationists are asked to show up at the Route 66 State Park office near Eureka, Missouri, this weekend for a photo shoot at the Meramac River Route 66 Bridge for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s ongoing “This Place Matters” campaign.
The session will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 14.
According to an email from Ruth Keenoy at Landmarks Association of St. Louis:
The photo shoot is to raise awareness about the bridge and our fundraising campaign to provide an endowment for Missouri State Parks, so that the bridge will be saved and we can restore it to a bicycle/pedestrian crossing. The photo shoot is for the National Trust’s “This Place Matters” campaign that takes place every year in May, National Historic Preservation Month.
The photo shoot will occur in front of the park office, at the east end of the bridge. I’ve attached a flyer that promotes this event and again gives a link for the GoFundMe page where folks who want to contribute, can make donations.
For those who don’t want to give online, they may send checks to Landmarks Association of St. Louis, 911 Washington Avenue, Suite 170, St. Louis, MO 63101.
The Meramec River Bridge was built at Times Beach, Missouri, in 1932. Times Beach was evacuated in the 1980s because of dioxin contamination. The contaminated soil was incinerated, and Route 66 State Park then was founded at the site of the old Steiny’s Inn restaurant on Route 66.
The Missouri Department of Transportation closed the bridge in 2009 after an annual inspection showed it could no longer support traffic. Shortly after that, MoDOT removed the deck to keep bridge’s superstructure from decaying further.
(Image of from the Landmarks Association of St. Louis flyer)
Ron,
I visited that park on my very first trip in 2003 actually drove over the Meremec River Route 66 Bridge. Stayed at a Hotel across from Six Flags. BTW Ron there is a Meremac River up my way North of Boston.
Do you guys need photogs or riders….i’m a photog