Martha Chukinas kissed a comment form expressing her desire to save the Worsham Street Bridge before she dropped it in a wooden box at a public hearing Tuesday night at O.T. Bonner Middle School.
The city and the state plan to demolish the dilapidated structure, closed for safety reasons in the summer of 2004.
“There’s been enough damage done to the city of Danville and its heritage,” said Chukinas, who feels the city’s history and architecture are what truly makes the city unique.
The Worsham Street Bridge could be described as an example of both qualities.
Built in 1928 as a way to funnel traffic into what is now Danville’s Tobacco Warehouse District, the bridge’s long spans and open spandrels are considered emblematic of Indiana-based architect Daniel P. Luten’s work.
But concerns about the bridge’s safety date back almost as far as its construction. Dan River Mills Riverside Division’s superintendent of shops shared his concerns about the bridge’s overall safety in a June 1949 letter he wrote to city officials. Apparently a portion of the bridge’s concrete railing fell in an area he planned to use as a parking lot for his company’s No. 6 Cotton Mill.
Nearly five decades later, in July 2004, City Manager Jerry Gwaltney ordered that the bridge be closed to all traffic.
After hearing from two architects about the bridge’s condition and future, Danville City Council unanimously approved plans to tear down the bridge that October.
Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Paula Jones said Tuesday’s hearing was the latest step in that process. The agency needs to get a special permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in order to build a cofferdam across the Dan River to start the $4.8 million demolition project.
Since the Worsham Street Bridge is a candidate for the National Register of Historic Places, the corps of engineers needs to gather information from the public about alternatives to tearing the bridge down and whether those alternatives are feasible.
VDOT estimates that repairing the bridge so it could again be used for vehicular traffic could cost as much as $14.2 million and another $166,000 each year for maintenance.
The bridge’s concrete would still be porous and it would still have non-epoxy coated reinforcing steel, according to VDOT officials.
Another alternative for the bridge’s future is converting the structure into a pedestrian bridge. This project is estimated to cost $9.1 million. Since pedestrian bridges do not qualify for VDOT maintenance funds, the estimated $105,000 needed each year to maintain the bridge would have to come from city tax dollars.
Chukinas and Alice Saunders, both members of area preservationist group Friends of the Worsham Street Bridge, offered a third alternative Tuesday night. They argued the city and VDOT could shore up the bridge’s southern section and convert it into an overlook since it is the highest point on the Dan River.
“It would be nice and it might satisfy everybody involved,” Saunders said, adding the overlook could serve as a place for a sidewalk cafe and help bring people downtown. “You can’t beat charm in a town.”
Jones said that she has heard several comments from people interested in saving the bridge, but she also has heard from people with other viewpoints.
“One gentleman expressed his feelings that there were enough bridges in Danville,” Jones said.
People have 10 days to send their comments about the Worsham Street Bridge to VDOT’s Chatham Residency Office, P.O. Box 309, Chatham, VA 24531.
Jones said the timing of the demolition project depends largely on the amount of information VDOT receives during the public comment period. The agency expects to get the right-of-way it needs in September and hopes to solicit bids for the demolition in late 2008.
