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Sunday, April 26, 2015

Rochester Postcard Project Day 38

Not far from the Charlotte Light House I found this bridge.  The Hojack Swing Bridge.  I was immediately drawn to it when I saw it.  I had never heard of a swing bridge, let alone seen one, before seeing this one.  It fascinated me.  Just a few yards upriver there is a true draw bridge but this onw did not lift out of the way of boat traffic, rather, it pivoted on a large column in the middle of the river.

By the time I saw it it had long stopped being used since the 70's.  It showed its signs of age, rotted wood and rusting beams, but it still look majestic and strong.  There was already a fight to get it torn down and to save it.  I befriended the the president of the group trying to save it.  However, I already could see the writting on the wall.  So I did several drawings of the bridge.  The postcard I did early on.

The Hojak Bridge is an example, though, of the short sighted thinking that we still work towards changing.  The group had already had a feasibility study done, a buyer and architectual plans done up to turn the bridge into a restaurant/museum, but, there was too much pressure to demolish it even though it was marked as a historic landmark.  So, last year it came down. 



1 comment:

  1. I'm on the preservation side too Mark. I've got nothing against progress, but we need to remember to respect and preserve our history too. You have aided in that process by recording and preserving this image for all time. I like the way the bridge is shown as an island alone, separated from its connections to us, and to the future. The contrast between the simple foreground image and the complex and formerly 'high tech' structure in the background also speaks to the passage of time, and having to adapt to ever changing connections in history and in life. There are many that we wish could be preserved, yet there are still those that (sadly) must be let go.

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