This week a special exhibit opens to celebrate the centennial of the Hawthorne Bridge, Portland’s oldest downtown bridge and the oldest public bridge that spans the Willamette River. “The Bridges That Built Portland,” a free exhibit that also commemorates the era when Portland’s first bridges were built, was created by the PDX Bridge Festival, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating Portland’s bridges.
During a First Thursday opening reception on December 2, PDX Bridge Festival creative director Tucker Teutsch will review highlights of last summer’s bridge festival and preview plans for the 2011 festival. Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury will speak on the role of bridges for the city’s past and present, and Waddell & Harrington, the original engineers who designed the Hawthorne Bridge, will also make a special appearance.
The exhibit highlights the first ferries and bridges that connected east and west Portland, beginning with the 1855 Stark Street Ferry and the 1887 Morrison Bridge, which was the Willamette River’s first bridge. The early wooden bridges led to the more ambitious Hawthorne Bridge, which was approved by Portland voters in a 1907 ballot measure and opened on December 19, 1910. Today the Hawthorne Bridge is the oldest working vertical lift bridge in the country and possibly in the world.
The exhibit also includes an interactive multimedia display on the history of Portland’s bridges and images from the 2010 Bridge Festival, including the fabric and light installation that was on the Hawthorne Bridge during the festival.
“The Bridges That Built Portland” will be at the AIA Portland Center for Architecture at 403 NW 11th Ave. from December 2-14, open Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. The opening reception on December 2 will take place 5-7pm, with food and drinks donated by Whole Foods and Portland’s Seven Bridges Winery.
December 1, 2010