Jefferson Avenue Footbridge rededicated in colorful C-Street ceremony

The spotlight was on the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge this weekend, with a lighting ceremony and drone show the night of May 1 and a rededication ceremony on May 2.

Historic Commercial Street was activated by the Red, White & Bridge Bash held May 1-2 to celebrate both the national Route 66 centennial and the nation’s 250th anniversary. The weekly C-Street City Market held in the footbridge plaza was surrounded Saturday by a classic car show stretching from Robberson to Benton avenues, and live music, exhibits and patriotic installations lined the streets.

Officials cut the ribbon on the footbridge that spans 13 tracks of the BNSF Railway, formerly the St. Louis-San Francisco, or Frisco, line. The bridge connected the neighborhoods north of the tracks with the commercial offerings that gave the street its name.

The bridge has been – and remains – closed for an estimated $13 million rehabilitation project, but the event celebrated the progress toward completion at an unknown future date.

A barbershop ensemble opened the event with the national anthem and some lively tunes, and residents of surrounding neighborhoods donned period garb, including the white dresses worn by suffragettes, with some carrying signs demanding “Votes for Women.”

Emcee David Cameron, Springfield city manager, welcomed the crowd, stating the celebration was years in the making as an effort based in collaboration and community.

“We’re here to celebrate more than a bridge, aren’t we? We’re here to celebrate connection – connections between neighborhoods, between generations and between the past and the future,” he said.

Added Cameron, “The Jefferson Avenue Footbridge has stood as a symbol in this community for more than a century, linking people across the tracks, and linking stories across time.”

He thanked many of the parties involved in the project, from city staff to BNSF officials to state Sen. Lincoln Hough, who helped to procure the project’s funding.

But most of his praise went toward the people behind the effort to rehabilitate the bridge.

“I want to appreciate again … the advocates, the neighbors and community leaders that made this possible – who never let go of what it takes to be persistent and move this project forward,” Cameron said.

Hough, who is closing out his eight years in the Missouri Senate, was described by Cameron as someone who kept southwest Missouri at the center of conversation.

Hough acknowledged that as former Senate appropriations chair, he has received a lot of credit for obtaining funding for the footbridge and other regional initiatives, but he said he is part of a team.

“Sometimes what we do in Jefferson City actually matters,” he said.

Hough called for people to focus on the kind of connection the footbridge represents.

“We’ve got a great community,” Hough said. “Let’s just keep growing, let’s keep supporting each other and let’s keep remembering that we’re better when we tie things together than when we tear them apart.”

Councilmember Monica Horton began by wishing a good morning to the “pride of the north side,” Historic C-Street. She pointed out 94-year-old Elaine Graham Estes, a Woodland Heights resident whose parents started Graham’s Rib Station in 1930, right after the market crash that started Great Depression, at the corner of Washington Avenue and Chestnut Expressway.

For Horton, Estes’ presence and her representation of a pivotal Springfield business helped to make the rededication a meaningful experience.

Mary Collette, president of the Commercial Club of Springfield, pointed out that the bridge has been lifted about five feet.

“Springfield has proven another life for her is not a bridge too far,” she said.

She referenced the reopening, “Coming soon,” and the fact that visitors and residents will then be able to cross it once again. At that time, she said, there will be another party.

Commercial Street businessperson Lyle Foster, owner of Big Momma’s coffee shop, represented the business community at the event.

“We have missed our footbridge so much, but we have waited for this season – not always patiently – for it to be renovated and be restored to its former glory,” he said.

He recalled a news conference of the merchants’ association in the shadow of the footbridge 19 years ago, when many people had given up on the C-Street district.

“We said we’re in business, and we’re here to stay,” he said.

He added that C-Street merchants originally raised money to build the bridge, partly to appease the Frisco railroad, which threatened to move its operations due to unsafe crossings by pedestrians. Then, he said, there was a delay in getting steel to complete the bridge.

“Does anything sound familiar?” he said. “We’re so thrilled to know that 125 years ago, the merchants were rocking and serving the community, and today, we’re still doing the same.”

Greene County Commissioner John Russell presented a proclamation commemorating the construction of the footbridge in 1902 by the Pennsylvania-based American Bridge Co. as a pioneering structure and the first of its kind in Missouri.

He offered the personal note that he and his family enjoyed frequenting the bridge, the last time on Feb. 28, 2016, the day before it closed to pedestrians.

Mayor Jeff Schrag accepted the proclamation and dedicated the bridge.

The remarks closed with comments by Matt Blevins, director of the C-Street Community Improvement District.

“People from all over come into Commercial Street, and it’s truly invigorating to feel that we’re on the rise here,” he said. “One of the largest accomplishments that I’ve seen is this beautiful bridge behind us. I think it’s going to be a true draw for all of us here, local and regional, to bring more people to this small piece of America that we truly have.”

Following Blevins’ remarks came the exclamation point on the event: a surprise flash mob made up of performers from Thriller on C-Street, a Halloween tradition in the commercial district.

The Jefferson Avenue Footbridge rehab project is funded by $8 million from the state of Missouri’s fiscal 2024 budget, $2.5 million from bonds, $2 million from BNSF Railway to raise the structure 3-4 feet to facilitate railroad maintenance, $400,000 from city sales tax funds and $50,000 from the Commercial Club of Springfield, Missouri, according to past SBJ reporting.