The bridge to Old Man Gloom
Controversial $750,000 crossing that links Fort Marcy Complex to Magers Field set for dedication
Acontroversial 90-foot-wide concrete bridge linking the Fort Marcy Recreation Complex to Magers Field is complete after three months’ construction and will be dedicated Wednesday. Trees along the riverbed were uprooted in late May, leading many residents and park-goers to criticize the $750,000 city project. They said it degraded the landscape and used money that could have been better spent on education or other projects more important than a park bridge.
But the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe countered that the bridge is a crucial safety structure for the park and especially important for the annual burning of Zozobra, when tens of thousands gather at Magers Field to watch Old Man Gloom go up in flames as part of Santa Fe’s annual Fiesta celebrations. The 93-year-old tradition of burning Zozobra is Friday.
The club spent $80,000 toward the cost of the bridge. The rest of the money came from city taxpayers.
Members of Tesuque Pueblo, Rabbi Berel Levertov of the Santa Fe Jewish Center and Rev. Adam Lee Ortega y Ortiz of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi will bless the bridge in the 5 :30 p.m. dedication ceremony.
“Wide enough for Zozo himself to walk across, it’s easier than ever to attend the iconic tradition our community has safely shared together for an amazing 93 years!” the group said in an email inviting the public to celebrate the bridge opening.
The club spent the last two years studying the bridge construction and pitching the proposal to city officials. An aging footbridge had begun to sag during the 2015 Zozobra celebration and 45 people had to be evacuated from it. As one of three wooden footbridges, spectators had used it to enter Magers Field for the event and often remained on the bridges to watch the event.
Many residents were upset that the new bridge
forced the cutting of 15 Siberian elm trees that lined the river dividing the field from the park. A number of park-goers and residents of the neighborhood said at the time that it was shortsighted to cut down needed foliage for a bridge that would mostly serve a purpose once a year. Many said the trees provided shade and greenery, natural elements that are all too sparse in New Mexico.
With the state projected to get hotter and drier in the coming decades, some researchers have said Siberian elms may provide benefits amid changing climate.
“We appreciate the shade of old trees around the arroyo that hover over the sidewalk. The only time the area residents flee or hunker down in their homes is that one evening a year that Zozobra is burned and the immediate area goes into lock down,” wrote Jill Heppenheimer in a letter to the editor of The New Mexican.
Not everyone is a fan of Siberian elms. They grow rapidly and are classified in the city as an invasive species.
The city called neighborhood notification meetings in January and again after construction began, but some residents felt they hadn’t received sufficient opportunity for comment.
“Now, the city of Santa Fe is cutting down oldgrowth trees and putting in a $750,000 footbridge (with just under 10 percent donated by the organization that organizes and sells the tickets for the event) for exactly one night of entertainment a year … What makes this a good investment? Pre-K, community art projects, food programs — are these not more worthy programs for that $750,000?” Heppenheimer wrote.
Ray Sandoval, organizer of Zozobra for the Kiwanis club, said the bridge was the result of extensive planning that provided crucial width for eventgoers to exit Zozobra should an emergency occur. He said the final bridge path was also the least environmentally hazardous option and other places for the bridge would have cut down many more trees.