A New Bridge to the Future
June 8, 2020: James Crouse has made us aware of a new bridge that is being called the Bridge to the Future. The bridge is being added to the Salomon Farm Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
At this point the bridge is complete and waiting for the installation of some signage. The bridge dedication, scheduled for this spring, has been put on hold according to Steve McDaniel of Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation. It is hoped that there will be a ceremony later in the summer.
The new bridge measures 48 feet long with a roof line that extends an additional 3 feet on both sides. The overall length of the bridge is 54 feet long. At some point in the future the bridge will be assigned a World Guide number.
See the content below for the bridge plans, signage, and the original article from the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Photo by Fort Wayne (Ind.) Parks and Recreation Department
Saturday, January 04, 2020 1:00 am
Salomon Farm Park to get covered bridge
ROSA SALTER RODRIGUEZ | The Journal Gazette
Workers at Salomon Farm Park have been busy building a bridge to link the future with the past.
The latest addition to the park, a replica of a working 1930s farm along Dupont Road in Fort Wayne, will be a covered bridge.
Steve Schuhmacher, deputy director of grounds and improvements for Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation, said the project will link the more-used north side of the park with the south side near Till Road.
It's hoped more trails will be constructed there in the future, he said.
The bridge will cost about $120,000 and will likely be dedicated this spring.
The project was undertaken, Schuhmacher said, to fulfill a longtime wish of the late Don Wolf, a major park benefactor who died Sept. 11.
Wolf, chief executive officer of HWI/Do it Best Corp. from 1967 until his retirement in 1993, had fond memories of growing up on a farm near New Haven. He helped fund the restoration of the barn and the homestead on the park property, Schuhmacher said.
“This was one of the last things he wanted to do to have for people who used the park,” he said of the bridge, adding Wolf helped secure a grant awarded by the Edward D. and Ione Auer Foundation that allowed for construction.
The bridge, which spans the Beckett's Run creek, is intended for pedestrians. The structure mimics the architecture of the park's barn and eventually will be painted like the barn – red with white trim, Schuhmacher said.
The framing is expected to be finished in the next month or so, but painting won't be completed until spring, he said.
Link to the original story reprinted with permission form the Journal Gazette: https://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20200104/salomon-farm-park-to-get-covered-bridge
Editor's note: Thanks to James Crouse for providing this information.
