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Politics & Government

Waterford Iron Bridge One of 25 Finalists for $1 Million

Partners in Preservation is offering up $1 million to help preserve historic landmarks in the Twin Cities area.

It's a popularity contest on the grandest scale.

The Waterford Iron Bridge, closed to vehicle traffic since 2009, is one of 25 historic locations throughout the Twin Cities area in the running for $1 million in preservation grants.

Voting starts today on Facebook at facebook.com/partnersinpreservation and runs through Oct. 12. You may vote daily.

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Votes supporting the Waterford Iron Bridge will help increase the chances of getting in on the $1 million pool provided by Partners in Preservation. Participants are also encouraged to add personal stories and share photos about the historic site throughout the program.

"We're the little guys with the iron bridge," said Liz Messner, Waterford Township supervisor, and the leader of the local effort.

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The bridge, maintained by Waterford Township, was built in 1909. It is still used as a pedestrian bridge and wasn't damaged by last year's flood. The hope is to update the bridge so it can be used as a pedestrian and bike trail for years to come, connecting with area trails.

Messner, who wrote the grant request, asked for the maximum $125,000 to replace the bridge deck and a cracked abutment. Each site, regardless of voting, is guaranteed $5,000.

The other 24 sites will be looked at by a committee of community leaders and evaluated on the number of votes, community support, creativity and the need and desire of the site. This, Messner said, is where the community makes a difference by sharing stories and photos on the Facebook pages.

This is also where Messner expects the Waterford Iron Bridge group to excel.

"It's a community project," she said, "and we need community support. We want people to share their stories."


David versus Goliath

Partners in Preservation is a program in which American Express, with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, awards money to historic places throughout the country.

The goal of the program is to increase awareness of the importance of preservation, preserve America’s historic and cultural places and inspire long-term support from local residents for the historic sites at the heart of their communities.

Twenty-five historic places are selected from a competitive pool of applicants to compete for funding for preservation projects.

"We are by far the smallest," said Janalee Cooper, who is part of the local effort to bring money to Waterford.

In the perpetual David versus Goliath tale, this is where the little old Waterford Iron Bridge can do some damage on some of the better known historic sites.

It's already on an impressive streak.

Messner was contacted by the Dakota County Historical Society in February and was encouraged to do an initial grant application for the competition. A more formal grant request followed.

Applications were narrowed to 300 historic sites. Then 155—including Waterford—was brought to American Express headquarters for scrutiny. The bridge survived that round and eventually made it to the top 25.

Messner and her core group of advocates were notified in early July of being finalists.

"I was ecstatic," she said. "Then the work started."

The competition takes place entirely online and voting is tallied only through Facebook.

Messner, a longtime Waterford resident, admittedly knows very little about Facebook. Enter Cooper and Hayes Scriven, executive director of the Northfield Historical Society. They helped get a Waterford Iron Bridge Facebook page going to raise awareness for the competition.

There, you can read more about the historic site and see photos.

The Waterford Iron Bridge was built by the Hennepin Bridge Co., according to a Facebook page.

"The design developed by Chas Forbes was innovative for its time as it incorporated the hot weld method of bolts, and a through truss design called camel back," it reads on the Facebook page. "Testament to the design and construction techniques is the fact that this bridge was in continuous use from 1909-2009 for vehicle traffic. It is one of the last standing of its type, and to the best of our knowledge the only one still in use today."


Other sites competing for money:

Minneapolis
• American Swedish Institute
• Basilica of St. Mary
• Emerge Career and Technology Center (Old North Branch Library)
• Fort Snelling Upper Post, Building 67
• Harriet Tubman Center East (former St. Paul's Monastery)
• Hennepin Center for the Arts
• Mill Ruins Park
• Minnehaha Park
• Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery
• The Soap Factory

St. Paul
• Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill
• CSPS Sokol Hall
• Fitzgerald Theater
• James J. Hill House
• Landmark Center
• Minnesota State Fair Grandstand
• Minnesota Transportation Museum (Jackson Street Roundhouse)
• Pilgrim Baptist Church

Greater Twin Cities
• Fridley’s Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts
• Chaska Athletic Park
• Wayata Depot
• Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Belle Plaine
• Historic Pilot Knob in Mendota Heights
• Washington County Historic Courthouse in Stillwater

The seven-county Twin Cities area is the sixth location to participate in the program. Previously grants for preservation projects were given in San Francisco, Chicagoland, New Orleans, greater Boston and Seattle-Puget Sound.

The prospective grantees, each of which is a nonprofit organization or a government agency, complete formal grant applications, and are then reviewed towards specific criteria that includes their historic significance and accessibility to the public, demonstration of community support and organizational excellence, and evidence of a coherent and sustainable preservation plan.


WANT TO GO TO THE OPEN HOUSE?
WHAT: Waterford Iron Bridge open house
WHEN: 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9
WHERE: Waterford Iron Bridge
WHO: Open to the public
EXTRA: Weather permitting, bridge will be played on the bridge from 1:30-3 p.m.; refreshments will be available

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