The Route 66 Gasconade River Bridge Guardians met Sunday in Leasburg, Missouri, to set a plan for the coming months, including fundraising to pay for an engineering assessment of the historic structure’s condition and an estimate of repair costs to keep it safe for bicycle and light traffic.
The Guardians gathered only a few days after Iowa-based Workin’ Bridges announced it was pulling out of the bridge-restoration project after questions arose from Route 66 enthusiasts about Workin’ Bridges’ methods and transparency.
According to a news release late Monday from the Guardians, the engineering assessment will cost an estimated $8,000 to $10,000. Workin’ Bridges’ executive director pledged to return about $6,900 it has raised in donations as early as this week, leaving the Guardians only a few thousand short of paying for the assessment.
Other plans by the Guardians:
- Create a persona for the bridge so it becomes a travel destination.
- Create a situation so the bridge can help pay for its insurance and maintenance costs.
- Finding an organization that will take over ownership of the bridge.
Donations can be made through the nonprofit Guardians’ Facebook page.
The state closed the nearly 90-year-old Gasconade River Bridge near Hazelgreen, Missouri, in December 2014 after inspectors found serious deterioration. The Missouri Department of Transportation announced a year ago it would build a new bridge next to the Gasconade span in 2019.
After the jump, here is the full text of the news release posted on Facebook:
The Route 66 Gasconade River Bridge Guardians (Guardians) have been working hard to raise awareness of the potential fate of the Bridge since MoDot closed it to traffic in December 2014. Our efforts during the past 3 plus years resulted in a “stay of execution” for the Bridge and brought a company, Workin’ Bridges into the picture. After 5 months of their own efforts however, they have backed out of the project. The Guardians met again Feb 11, 2018, to discuss new ideas for bringing life back into the rescue effort.
We are better organized than we were 3 years ago.
1. We are now incorporated within the state of Missouri, under the Missouri Nonprofit Corporation Law.
2. We are now a 501©3 organization, so your donations could be tax deductible
3. We have a good working relationship established with MoDot
4. We have several new ideas about raising interest in the Bridge – so stay tuned!
5. We have an established Facebook group: Route 66 Gasconade Bridge – please repair.
6. We have an established Facebook page: The Rt. 66 Gasconade River Bridge Guardians
We will be working hard in the coming months to raise the money necessary to save our Bridge.
1. We need to finance an engineering assessment of the condition of the bridge and obtain an estimate of costs required to make the bridge safe – perhaps for bicycle and or light traffic. Anticipated cost of survey $8,000-$10,000.
2. We need to create a persona associated with the Bridge so that it becomes a travel destination point
3. We need to figure out how we can create a situation so that the Bridge can help pay for its costs (insurance & continued upkeep).
4. We’d like to find an organization, private or governmental, that’s willing to take ownership of the Bridge. We believe it has much potential.
The Guardians core group is 8 people strong – but we believe we have hundreds – no thousands – of folks that are ready and willing to help us. We (Guardians) pledge that we will be transparent to the public with what we do, what our goals are, how much money we raise, and how it’s spent. We need your help in spreading the word, and we need your help in raising the funds needed, and we will need whatever time and talent you can donate to the cause of saving this grand old lady – The Gasconade River Bridge.
(Image of the Gasconade River Bridge near Hazelgreen, Missouri, in September 2014 by Indtrigg via Flickr)