Steel Bridge News

Sturgeon Bay's Historic Michigan Street Bridge gets a new two-lane companion bridge.

Aug 7, 2008 Sturgeon Bay -- A new two-lane bridge, scheduled to open Sunday, September 21, 2008, will complete a four-lane Federal Highway safety requirement for Door County's Northern Corridor. Addressing major safety and sufficiency concerns, the Sturgeon Bay four-lane bridge project (Business Hwy 42/57) is a giant step closer to completion with the opening of a companion two-lane bridge just a little over 700 feet away from the historic two-lane Michigan Street bridge. The building of this two-lane companion bridge saved numerous downtown structures from the wrecking ball, including the historic bridge, which was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It avoided a two-year closure to the historic downtown district and provided continued access to County Trunk B running to Egg Harbor. It will save the historic commercial district from annual shutdowns, offer county drivers an adequate alternate route to the highway, and secure the mainland access to Door County's only hospital. The new bridge was born out of six years of review and negotiations between the Wisconsin DOT, the Federal Advisory Council for Historic Preservation (ACHP), State Historic Preservation Officer, National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP), City of Sturgeon Bay, and other local organizations through Sec.106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and Section 4(f) processes which are required when seeking federal dollars for state road projects that effect historic properties.The processes identify options and possible adverse effects on historic properties. An all-day county-wide inaugural celebration, originally planned for August 23, 2008, the day the State will take ownership from the builders, was delayed until Sept. 21 by the WisDOT.

History Offers A Green Solution

To all 2006 and 2007 Construction Zone participants:

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for the gift of your talents and passionate contributions! "Steel Bridge Songs Vol.1" continues to be very well received, and the income it continues to generate from sales around the county is being put to very good use (check Christie's Bridge News update below).

Last summer's second batch of songs, steering surprisingly clear of redundancy, proved the bridge theme/metaphor virtually inexhaustible. We'll be releasing a double-disc collection (Steel Bridge Songs Vols. 2&3) in time for this year's songfest.

My apologies to any songwriter who's felt a little out-of-the-loop since last summer. We've had a motel fire, a challenging winter, meetings, meetings, meetings, and countless details to contend with (not to mention, someone only intermittently reliable at the helm: ME!)

Steve, Travis, and Chris have done a great job with the recordings, making sure there's stuff to listen to, and making copies for those who've requested them. It's taken awhile, but the CD is well on track, the mixes are great, and we're getting ready for mastering.

And Steel Bridge 2008 is starting to look like it will be the most fun and best organized yet. In planning this year's event, your contributions have not been and will not be forgotten! We consider all Construction Crew members, past and present, to be part of the Steel Bridge family, and I'm hoping you'll all want to come back and take part as performers and volunteers. And we hope you'll be inspired to write while you're here.

If you have any ideas or questions, or just want to touch base, please feel free to contact me via myspace or by email: pmAcd333@gmail.com. If you'd rather talk on the phone, email me your phone number and I'll give you a call.

The Historic Steel Bridge has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is listed "important" because of the unique Scherzer type rolling lift. This rolling lift is only one of two left in the nation and the only one left in Wisconsin. The bridge boosts 400,000 rivets, was built to withstand high winds in the canal, and could be hand cranked open because of its unique upper counterweight balance system. The Steel Bridge stands as our small town's most recognizable icon and is inarguably the most significant structure in Door County.

The first rehab of the nationally significant historic Steel Bridge is finally in our sites. This year we will see all our efforts hard at work. We are kicking off a one million dollar restoration 2008 fund drive. The goal is to address important long-range maintenance issues that are not included in the most recent WisDOT rehab planned for September, 2008. At the same time, we will also help create a long range Restoration Plan to maintain the historic bridge for future generations.
2008 Goal= $1,000,000

The state feels TODAY that painting the STEEL BRIDGE (last painted in 1984) is an "asthetic improvement" and not a nessesary maintenance requirement. We believe that not cleaning and painting the entire bridge will have a negative adverse impact to the intergraty of the steel structure and add cost to the final restoration plan if not addressed in this rehab.

#1 First Joint Public/Private Bridge rehab project in the State -Approved:
The WisDOT most recent rehab plan calls for painting the steel bridge 5' up from the road bed only. The Citizens for Our Bridge plan will be to clean and paint the entire steel structure to protect the steel from more deterioration, as recomended in the WisDOT rehab plan.
Estimated amount = $300,000.00 according to the WisDOT 25-year rehabilitation study.

#2 Projects still under discussion in 2008 Rehab:
Restoration of Bridgetender's House:

Hey everybody: Again, we've been flooded with generous offers from bands to play this year and i'm blown away by the line-up as it stands: over a hundred acts in three nights and a day! Jackson Browne is coming back (thanks to his amazing generosity) as are Jane Wiedlin, Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons, James Hall, Eric McFadden, Kim Manning of P-Funk, and many more!

Victor DeLorenzo (Violent Femmes drummer), will join the Construction Zone, as will Louise Goffin (daughter of the most famous male-female collaborative songwriting team of all time!), Lynda Kay (The Lonesome Spurs), Martin Jack Rosenblum ("the Holy Ranger"), and fiddler Doug Kershaw, the legendary "Ragin' Cajun"!
(This is not a complete list of favorites, just a few that come to mind right now.)

Our booking process has been rather free-form, so if you're a musician or band who's offered to play, and you're not sure whether you're booked or not, send an email with the subject heading "OFFER TO PLAY" to: steelbridgebooking@yahoo.com to get a confirmation. Include your play date preference. I'm way behind in answering emails, and i swear i WILL catch up, but if you think i might not have received your email, don't hesitate to write again.

Again, if i invited you to play this year, and you said yes, even if i was drunk at the time and we haven't spoken since, and whether or not you're listed on the website yet, please know that if i said it, i meant it (but feel free to remind me anyway, just in case :) by sending an email to steelbridgebooking@yahoo.com)

Dear Members,

Welcome to SB3 News! We'll keep you posted on all the up-to-the-minute happenings and events right here, so check back regularly, thanks!