Building Bridges

The Building Bridges website describes the organization as a non-profit project founded by a group of concerned citizens to advocate for the construction of Providence’s long-planned and long-delayed public Riverside Park and pedestrian bridge on the former I-195 land. The group organized an event to raise awareness and to give rise to the “imagined bridge.” The stand-in for the finished bridge was one made of balloons, representing what the proposed bridge would look like when completed.

Twenty to thirty volunteers worked at the four self-made balloon stations set up with helium tanks, and the tools to inflate and string together the balloon arches. Slow moving at first, the effort soon yielded balloon strands floating aimlessly in the wind. The strands grew from five to ten, then twenty, thirty feet and longer. The plan was to put both ends of a string of balloons in a canoe then paddle out to the pylons left standing after removing the I 195 on-ramp, where they would secure one end of the balloon string then paddle to the next to secure the other end. The balloons would then give rise to an arch symbolizing the bridge. Due to a steady breeze this turned out to be quite an undertaking. The first challenge was to paddle the canoe to the pilings, as the wind provided a formidable resistance; and then once at the pilings they had to figure out how to get out of the canoe. Even then, the volunteers had to climb up on the piling, grab hold of one end of the string and raise that up out of the canoe then secure that to the piling. It didn’t help that the tide was low, and the height difference of the piling’s top from the canoe was quite challenging. I thought this method of setting the balloons to each piling was a feat that belonged on American Gladiators and not to this eager group of citizens. Yet, I had no doubt that their persistence would overwhelm the barriers they faced. Watching the efforts from a boat in the river was the Providence Police. Recognizing the problem the group faced, the officer offered welcomed assistance. After that, the task became easily manageable and the balloon bridge was completed, earlier than expected.

After taking a short break, they cleaned up the area, put away the tables, helium tanks and other items. Now it was time to set up a microphone for the dedication of this bridge. The event turned out to be timely as the formal contract for the pedestrian bridge was awarded just two days prior. The symbolism of this event, and the fluttering balloon bridges are now directly linked to the actual undertaking of this project. “Awesome”.

At 2pm people kept arriving including a number of characters from Big NazO, I i95 commissioner and other dignitaries. The day, imho, was a complete success. Please enjoy the images attached.