CHAPTER 4Bean Creek pedestrian bridge (new)

All photos in this chapter are © by Joe Konz 

While doing research online for this series, I came across a cool picture on a postcard of what looks to be an original stone bridge over Bean Creek in Garfield Park. It was available for sale for $1.58 at the website HipPostcard. 

It's not clear which of the Bean Creek bridges it was supposed to be representing (there are two vehicular stone bridges and one pedestrian stone bridge over Bean Creek in the park, and there once was an additional foot bridge that has since been replaced with a non-stone structure). 

The new foot bridge connects sections of the park near MacAllister Amphitheater on the west with the Sunken Garden and Conservatory on the east, segments that are separated by the creek. For many of the early years I lived in the neighborhood, there was no bridge there. It had long been removed, I presume for safety reasons. 

So it was with great joy in spring 2009 when the park announced it had opened this new foot bridge in its place at a cost of $120,000. This new bridge is shown below in photographs taken in December 2012, three years after it went into use. No longer is it a inconvenience for pedestrians to get back and forth from those important park landmarks.

Coming tomorrow, Chapter 5: Blake’s Garden

Previously in the Garfield Park in Pictures series:

Introduction

Chapter 1: “America, We Remember”

Chapter 2: The Garfield Park Arts Center

Chapter 3: Bean Creek and Pleasant Run