Elm Park Bridge turns 100

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This article was published 10/06/2014 (4378 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The footprints of history are never a bridge too far.

The Elm Park Bridge — which stretches across the Red River and provides a walkway from south of Jubilee Avenue to the Kingston Crescent area — recently celebrated its 100th birthday with a public celebration.

To mark the occasion, a plaque was unveiled late last month to commemorate the centennial of the bridge, which was built in 1912 and accommodated traffic until 1974. Among those who attended the recent ceremony were Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) and Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), whose respective municipal wards are connected by the bridge, which is located near the Bridge Drive Inn and has become a favourite spot for ice cream lovers across the city.

Noting a permanent plaque will be affixed in the near future, Mayes said more than 70 individuals attended the recent event, including other area politicians and the owners of BDI.

“The bridge helped connect St. Vital to the rest of the city and is very important to St. Vital’s history. Some people, like my mom, remember learning to drive on it, while now it has memories of biking, walking with ice cream or running.” Mayes said.

“But the coolest thing is that in 1914, the owner of 371 Kingston Cres. drove the first car across (the bridge). In 2014, we had a five-year-old Kaia Sigurdson from 371 Kingston Crescent drive her bike across to start the next 100 years.”

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