Who Named the Bridge?
By Dick Kauffman
August 02, 2005
Tuesday
Ketchikan, Alaska - Ralph M. Bartholomew
Veterans' Memorial Bridge - that's the name of the proposed bridge
to Gravina. When and how the bridge was named is a question that
continues to arise. Rumors float that Congressman Don Young named
the bridge, others say that the Ketchikan Assembly named the
bridge, then there are others who think the citizens of Ketchikan
might have voted on a name for the bridge.
Rendering of Ralph
M. Bartholomew Veterans' Memorial Bridge as viewed from Saxman.
This is a rendering of the 200-foot High Bridge East Channel.
Image courtesy Gravina Access Project
For those who are confused, fortunately there are folks in Ketchikan
who are the 'Keepers of Records' such as Ketchikan Borough Clerk
Harriett Edwards. According to Edwards, the history behind the
naming of the bridge to Gravina goes back many years to 1989
at which time the proposed bridge was originally named the Veterans
Memorial Bridge by the Alaska State Legislature.
And why would the state legislature
name a bridge in Ketchikan? The answer is simple. In Alaska the
state legislature is responsible for naming state projects such
as the bridge - or a bike path to Saxman.
Rendering of the 200-foot
High Bridge East Channel and 120-foot High Bridge West Channel
which makes up the Ralph M. Bartholomew Veterans' Memorial Bridge.
Image courtesy Gravina Access Project
Then in 1997, at a Ketchikan Borough Assembly meeting on September
2nd, Assemblymember Meredith Marshall said she had suggested
to U.S. Senator Ted Stevens that the proposed bridge be named
after Ketchikan resident Ralph Bartholomew who had just passed
away. Also Assemblymember J. C. Conley had suggested the bridge
be named for Mr. Bartholomew who was well known in Ketchikan
for his many years of hard work towards bringing the bridge project
to fruition. (Memories
of a Lifetime in Ketchikan; A story about Ralph M. Bartholomew
By JUNE ALLEN)
Rendering of the 200-foot
High Bridge East Channel
as viewed from the stairs at the downtown tunnel.
Image courtesy Gravina Access Project
On January 12, 1998, Senator Robyn Taylor, along with Senators
Mackie, Leman and
Duncan introduced Senate Bill 211 which would amend Alaska Statute
35.40.050 to rename the bridge from the Veterans Memorial Bridge
to the Ralph M. Bartholomew Veterans' Memorial Bridge. The bill
passed and was signed into law in the spring of 1998.
And that's how the bridge was
named.
On the Web:
Memories of a Lifetime in Ketchikan;
A story about Ralph M. Bartholomew By JUNE ALLEN
Gravina Access Project
http://www.gravina-access.com
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