PROVIDENCE – The city has received 78 responses from individuals and entities with ideas for finding a new purpose for the Crook Point Bascule Bridge.
The steel drawbridge, affixed in the upright position over the Seekonk River since 1976, was once part of a rail line that carried passengers, then freight, across the river from East Providence to the Fox Point area of Providence. Built in 1908 by a Chicago company, the bridge carried passenger cars that ended at the Providence terminal through the 1930s.
It now sits just off the public bike trail.
The city is trying to save the bridge, which has been identified by the R.I. Department of Transportation for demolition and removal as part of its 10-year transportation plan.
In October, the city announced a call for design ideas to solicit creative solutions for its reuse. The competition is sponsored by the Providence Redevelopment Agency and the city.
The bridge is owned by the Rhode Island Public Rail Corp. Neither it, nor the RIDOT, are involved in the design competition.
Earlier this week, the Providence Preservation Society, which supports saving the bridge, announced that Brent Runyon, the society’s executive director, is among five people serving on a city panel to review the submissions and name finalists.
The preservation society views the bridge as worthy of saving because it is a symbol of the city’s industrial past and a sculptural element of the city’s skyline. It named the bridge to the city’s Most Endangered Places list in 2020.
The R.I. Department of Transportation, through a spokesman, said the bridge is scheduled for demolition due to safety and fire hazard concerns, but is open to discussions on its future.
“This is a project in the later years of our RhodeWorks program, in 2026,” said Charles St. Martin, a department spokesman. “Plans are not definitive, and we are aware of the interest from the city of Providence and others in preserving it, as well as the design competition, and we’re certainly open to discussions on the future of the bridge.”
(ADDS last two paragraphs with St. Martin comments.)
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
