Should the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge ever become a true walkway over the Hudson, the group which got the ball rolling in 1998 by buying the 19th-century span for a grand total of one greenback can honestly say that all it took, to get the process started, anyway, was “a dollar and a dream.”
The group Walkway Over the Hudson received a major boost to its dream on Aug. 21, with the announcement by the Dyson Foundation that the charitable organization would foot the bill for a $1.5 million engineering study to see if the bridge, opened in 1888 to carry coal from the mines of Pennsylvania to New England and used to carry all manner of freight until a 1974 fire and bad economics forced its closure, can endure being made into a “pedestrian park” and how much such an enterprise might cost.
Walkway has been working hard to raise money, so far accumulating about $1 million from federal and state sources, the group says, but the Dyson decision will allow the group to have a shot at getting the bridge ready for the 2009 Hudson-Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration, which will mark Henry Hudson’s 1609 exploration of the river which now bears his name. But more than that, the bridge, long considered a rusty relic of a bygone age, is now being seen as an icon that will come to be linked with Poughkeepsie and the Mid-Hudson Valley as the pyramids are with Egypt or the Eiffel Tower with Paris.
“As much as the Golden Gate Bridge defines San Francisco, we believe this historically significant and visually stunning pedestrian walkway will someday define the Hudson River Valley,” said Robert Dyson, president of the Millbrook-based Dyson Foundation, in a release last week. “With this grant, we look forward to forging a private-public partnership between various levels of government, local non-profits and the private sector, which will be the only way to bring Walkway Over the Hudson’s long-held dream a step closer to reality.”
According to the release, the grant will pay for “comprehensive project management, planning and engineering services” to be conducted by Bergmann Associates Inc., an Albany-based engineering and architectural firm. Peter Melewski, project manager and a principal with Bergmann, was formerly in charge of all engineering design for the New York State Thruway Authority. “We’re aiming at a very aggressive schedule,” said Melewski in the release. The Dyson money means his firm can get to work immediately on what they say will be a “comprehensive assessment of the bridge’s maintenance needs and alternatives for adaptation to its proposed use as a pedestrian walkway.”
“Initial inspections last fall by Bergmann team divers indicated that the bridge’s massive underwater foundations were more than up to the task ahead,” the release stated. “We will assess its maintenance needs and its current capacity, but we feel the bridge is more than adequate for the proposed purpose,” Melewski said.
The release states that Bergmann Associates hopes to complete bidding documents by next summer and commence construction by next fall in order to meet the fall 2009 deadline.
Fred Schaeffer, the Pleasant Valley lawyer who heads up Walkway, was understandably delighted by the Dyson grant. “The Dyson Foundation is providing a tremendous service to the community because this will be great for the entire Hudson Valley. It will help the economy by providing an attraction that will draw tourism from throughout the world,” Schaeffer said in a release. “Once it’s refurbished, it will be able to accommodate walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading, picnicking and just daydreaming. The views from up there are breathtaking.”
Locals excited too
Poughkeepsie Area Chamber of Commerce President Charlie North said this week that the completed bridge would eventually be a major draw for the area.
“We’re going to be bringing something back to life. That’s the kind of thing we need to do – highlight our past and make it relevant,” he said. “It’s going to be a major attraction.”
North said that by transforming the currently decaying bridge into something the area can be proud of, those behind the project would be catering to the needs to area residents and tourists alike.
“To take a non-functional piece and turn it into a showcase is great for us,” he said. “I really feel that it’s going to be something people are clamoring for.”
Andy Tkazyik, the owner of Andy’s Place on Dutchess Avenue, which sits in the shadow of the railroad bridge, said that the reconditioned span could potentially give the downtown and Poughkeepsie waterfront an economic boost.
“I think it’s only going to help business,” he said. “People seem to think they’re doing a good job in fixing it up, and it’s going to be a big tourist attraction.”
Tkazyik recalled a time, before the 1974 fire, when bridge workers would lower a bucket and haul up beer and peanuts from Andy and Steve’s, the restaurant’s name before it became Andy’s Place in 1977. He said the history of the area, and the bridge, would serve the revitalization effort well.
“I’m glad that something’s going to be done with it. It’s a big historical landmark in the area,” he said. “I’m here and I’m all for progress.”
Mike Arteaga of Mike Arteaga’s Health and Fitness Center in Highland and Poughkeepsie, said a completed bridge walkway would have both economic and health benefits to the populace.
Noting that the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, which links several communities in the far eastern part of Dutchess County, has played a role in bringing new life to that area, Arteaga said the walkway could do the same for Highland and Poughkeepsie. “I think it’s a fantastic idea. It will help with the quality of life. It would encourage people to be more active and walk more. I think it will bring life on the weekends.”
A fateful walk
On a clear and cold day in February 1993, Dyson and Schaeffer walked on the bridge. Dyson, who had never been up there, was tremendously impressed by the view. Schaeffer had been up only once before. There was ice on the river, and a Coast Guard cutter broke through it, making a loud cracking sound. Hitting against the bridge piers, the ice created yet another sound. “It was a peaceful and thrilling experience,” said Schaeffer, whose kids were of the same age as Dyson’s kids and played ball with them.
At that time, Bill Sepe was creating a nonprofit organization to save the bridge using volunteers and private money alone. There was a transfer of title, for the aforementioned $1, to Walkway Over the Hudson, from a Pennsylvania man who had dreams of turning it into a shopping mall, but not much else. The project languished for over a decade. A lot of people gave up.
When Schaeffer got re-involved, fundraising began in earnest. The new board of directors mended fences. U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey got $874,000 appropriated for the bridge through the state transportation department.
Dyson was again contacted. A $45,000 underwater pier inspection last October was positive about the structural condition of the bridge’s supports.
The Dyson Foundation sees the potential of the historic bridge as a tourist magnet and a connection between the two counties, according to press liaison Steve Densmore, former publisher of the Beat. Potentially an icon like the Eiffel Tower, said Densmore, the bridge was “inscrutable but attractive,” and capable of being turned into something useful.
Dyson staff met with Bergmann Associates, the engineers who will conduct the planned $1.5 million study. After two months of discussions, Dyson was on board.
With additional reporting by Matt Rohr and Carrie Ross