Gudgeonville Bridge – Pretty Important Thing

We’re debuting a new feature here at YourBoro today, one that we hope can be the more serious side of our blog. (Check for installments every Thursday!)

PRETTY IMPORTANT THING

of the week!

This week’s Pretty Important Thing is Girard Township’s very own Gudgeonville Bridge. It sits charred and nearly forgotten thanks to two arsonists who claimed responsibility for dousing the bridge in gasoline and setting it on fire. In years prior to its 2008 destruction, it had poor ratings among bridge experts (yes, they exist) who said the bridge’s appearance was poor, and the Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory said the bridge was basically a dump and needed a lot of work done.

Bridge BEFORE Fire

Bridge AFTER Fire

Despite all this, a few supporters of the bridge have come together to hold a fundraiser to rehabilitate the bridge. “Rock The Bridge!” is scheduled to take place May 30th at the Edinboro/McKean VFW. Though I doubt this group wants to literally rock the bridge from its foundation (or maybe they do and I’m waaaay off on this whole article) their benefit will feature bands, an art show, historical groups and…guh…a paranormal studies group. Whatever, the other stuff sounds cool. Plus, there will be beer.

Oh. Wait. Nevermind.

While researching this event and stumbling on their Myspace account just this second, it seems that the concert and entire event has been canceled. Yes, canceled. Wow, what a huge disappointment!

I was going to spend the rest of this article talking about the reasons why the bridge needs to be saved. How it was the oldest covered bridge out of three in our area, how it was a historical landmark, and how I was so glad that locals were finally standing up for something that wasn’t hunting-related.

Well, I guess this week’s Pretty Important Thing isn’t quite important enough. I’ll try to find something for next week that is a little more important.

In the meantime, drive out to Waterford to visit a living covered bridge, The Waterford Bridge.