SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — At 134 years of age, it’s one of the oldest bridges in Oregon.
But since 1989, the Hayden Bridge — a railroad bridge alongside the much newer bridge that carries Marcola Road over the McKenzie River — has been little more than a thrill spot for teenagers who climb on it and leap into the water.
An Iowa nonprofit organization wants to change that.
The North Skunk River Greenbelt Association, hopes to raise nearly $100,000 to re-deck the wrought- and cast-iron truss bridge, according to recently filed documents with the city of Springfield. The bridge may date back as far as 1882.
The nonprofit wants to add side railings and security gates to transform the structure into a “heritage bridge” that recalls its past as a rail line for hauling logs from the Mohawk Valley.
“It has a lot of historical significance,” Julie Bowers, the nonprofit’s executive director, said. “The more we learn about it, the more we realize what a jewel it is in terms of historic preservation.”
Since forming in 2010, the North Skunk River Greenbelt Association has restored or crafted plans to restore more than 30 historic bridges across the country.
Bowers said she stumbled on Hayden Bridge in a 2014 news article about Weyerhaeuser Co.’s plan to demolish it. The company had long owned the bridge and a small parcel of land at either end of it. She contacted the company and flew out to discuss ways to save it.
Weyerhaeuser considered dismantling the bridge and moving it to Delaware, Bowers said, at an estimated cost of $1 million. The company was eager to move it because of the liability caused by bridge jumpers, she said, but the cost to move it was prohibitive.
“After it became clear they were not going to pay to remove the bridge from the McKenzie, then we stepped up and said, ‘Why don’t you let us purchase it and see what we can do?”‘ she said.
Weyerhaeuser in June sold the two narrow strips of land on either side of a bridge for $1, and gave the association the bridge. Plus, Weyerhaeuser threw in a $25,000 donation for restoration work.
The nonprofit’s members include a certified engineer, and the owner of a Michigan metal fabrication company that specializes in bridge restoration. They’ll perform the upgrades, once the association can raise the full $100,000, Bowers said.
Oregon has many bridges that were built for rail lines to haul logs or lumber from remote valleys. Two of the best known in Lane County are east of Cottage Grove on the Row River Trail, a former rail line converted in the 1990s to a bike and pedestrian path. The two bridges were restored by government agencies as part of the rails to trails project.
Bowers’ nonprofit typically works with local governments and communities to raise money for its restoration work.
In financial filings, it reported revenues of $251,000 for 2014. It spent $263,000 that year, almost all on bridge projects. Bowers was paid a minimal salary of $9,622 that year.
Bowers hopes to start some of the early site work for the Hayden Bridge project in 2017, but the group is waiting for land-use approval from the city of Springfield and Lane County. The documents filed with Springfield planners request a meeting to discuss possible land-use or construction issues the project could raise. Such a meeting is typically the first step in an often lengthy pre-development process.
Moving the project forward could be especially difficult, since Springfield and Lane County would both have to sign off, Colin McArthur, principal planner with Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture & Planning, said. Bowers hired the firm a month ago to give the nonprofit local expertise working through the planning process.
Springfield’s urban growth boundary runs down the middle of the McKenzie River at Hayden Bridge, so the west half of the bridge falls under Springfield jurisdiction, while the east half is controlled by Lane County
“We’re trying to get coordination with all the agencies involved,” McArthur said. “We’re very early” in the process.
