Memorial Bridge gets “endangered” designation

A crowd of New Hampshire and Maine residents aiming to preserve the imperiled Memorial Bridge gathered in Portsmouth’s Prescott Park on April 28 for a rally in support of the 85-year-old structure. Supporters marched across the Route 1 bridge from Portsmouth to Kittery, traversing the powerful currents of the Piscataqua River.

The rally, organized by an ad-hoc citizens coalition called Save Our Bridges!, was meant to bring attention to the historic structure, which tops the N.H. Department of Transportation’s red list of bridges in need of repair. While New Hampshire appears committed to rescuing the bridge, officials in Maine have balked at the project’s $59 million price tag. New Hampshire and Maine share ownership of the bridge.

But rally-goers had reason to celebrate on Tuesday, as the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that Memorial Bridge will be included on its annual list of the nation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2009. Wendy Nicholas, director of the National Trust’s Northeast office, made the announcement at the Discover Portsmouth Center shortly before the rally began.

Discover Portsmouth spokesperson Stephanie Seacord, a member of Save Our Bridges!, said the designation will bring added attention to Memorial Bridge’s plight. “It’s basically to raise awareness of the importance of the bridge, not only locally but on the national scale,” she said.

The Portsmouth Historical Society filed an application with the National Trust, along with a “three-inch thick book” of reasons that Memorial Bridge deserves to be on the list, Seacord said. Various experts in the National Trust’s regional offices reviewed the application and decided the bridge fit their criteria.
 
“We highlight properties of architectural, historical and cultural significance that are threatened,” Nicholas said, noting that Memorial Bridge could be removed if the two states do not agree to fund renovations. 

Since first publishing the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in the late 1980s, the National Trust has listed more than 200 different sites. Only about six of those places have since been lost, and many others have been saved, including Wentworth by the Sea hotel in New Castle. The list does not offer any monetary aid or legal protection, but it often spurs decisive action.

“It’s a way to essentially raise the red flag on places of significance, places that matter to a community, where the kind of national spotlight that the NTHP can bring has the prospect of mobilizing people and perhaps changing decisions,” Nicholas said.

Built in August 1923 and dedicated to World War I veterans, Memorial Bridge was the first vertical lift bridge constructed in the eastern United States. Although there are three bridges connecting Portsmouth and Kittery—the others being Sarah Mildred Long Bridge on the Route 1 Bypass and the Interstate 95 bridge—Memorial Bridge is the only one that allows bicycles and pedestrians in addition to motor vehicles.

“It’s a practical, commercial, community element,” Seacord said. “It is the connector between Portsmouth and Kittery Foreside, and it’s the only pedestrian-bicycle bridge.”

Nicholas noted that Memorial Bridge could potentially benefit from economic stimulus funding, which is geared toward improving infrastructure. “It’s a well-loved bridge, and we felt as if the opportunity is clearly there to preserve it,” she said.

Seacord hopes the designation will send a clear message to Maine officials. “We’re definitely hoping that this is just another indication of the logic of working together with New Hampshire on applying for federal stimulus money,” she said.

N.H. celebrates ‘Girls Day’

More than 50 girls from around New Hampshire will tour the Statehouse in Concord and interact with legislators on Thursday, April 30. Gov. John Lynch has proclaimed that date Girls Day at the Statehouse, an announcement meant to inspire the Granite State’s future female leaders. 

The N.H. Women’s Alliance and the N.H. Commission on the Status of Women, both based in Concord, organized the event. Girls from The Friends Program in Concord, the Girls and Boys Clubs of Nashua, the Appalachian Teen Mountain Project in Wolfeboro, Girls Inc. of Concord and Girl Scouts from throughout the state will participate.

Speaker of the House Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth) and Senate President Sylvia Larsen (D-Concord) will welcome the girls, who will then receive a guided tour of the Statehouse and have a question and answer lunch with legislators. They will spend the afternoon shadowing legislators and conclude the day with a live performance titled “Susan B. Anthony the Invincible.”

Organizers planned the event in recognition of the state’s historic elections last fall. More than 50 percent of the N.H. Senate’s members are now women, making it the first legislative body in U.S. history to have a female majority. 

“We thought it would be a great way to celebrate this historical accomplishment of our female legislators,” said Nikki Murphy, director of the N.H. Women’s Alliance, in a press release. “By bringing legislators and the girls together we hope that this will inspire and empower them as young women, to make a difference in the world and here in our state.”