Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 283, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1914 — WORK STREET BRIDGE WILL BE A DANDY [ARTICLE]

WORK STREET BRIDGE WILL BE A DANDY

Steel is Being Constructed and Will Be Almost Completed by Next Saturday Night.

The new Work street bridge which is being installed will be almost completed, say the workmen, by Saturday night. There will still remain to be done the filling at each end of the bridge, which the commissioners at their meeting next week will probably provide for. Th bridge will be a very nice one and will certainly serve a splendid purpose. *

The contract for the bridge was let to the East St. ’Louis Bridge Co., but the work is being done by the Winamac Construction Co. The bridge has a span of only 80 feet, but this seems quite adequate. There will be foot walks on each side and the driveway will have a floor of creosote blocks, which are practically indestructible and which are now being used in pnany of the bridges, owing to the fact that the planks frequently have to 'be replaced. The bridge can not be opened for travel until the approaches which were mainly built some years ago are completed.

Old residents Will note a marked change in the appearance of that section of the eity since the yea Sis when on every Sunday afternoon every person who could walk went' up to the ‘'artesian” well to a good cold draught of Adam’s ale. The old dam was long ago torn out, the old race was abandoned and later filled up, the river dredged and new homes built. The old pasture where the flowing well, which long since ceased to flow, now sets several feet above the river bank and some small trees which the owner, H. R. Kurrie, has caused to be planted, indicates that he proposes to turn it into a park, thus being a fine adjunct to his already magnificent residence and surrounding®. The residences of Dr. H. J. Kannal, Frank Haskell and Dr. A. G. Gatt, on the opposite side of the river, can be seen to the greatest advantage from the grade on Work street approaching the bridge from the east. John Knapp has taken much pride In the landscaping of his cottage home on the west bank of the river, having a stone Wall built and filled in and everything as tidy as a pin. Both sides of the river bank between Work street and Washington street are very untidy, piles of rock remaining and weeds growing. The Republican has a time or two mentioned the great possibility of making a river drive from Work street to the cemetery. It could be made a magnificent boulevard but the expense would be enormous, but it is one thing which we can take pride in the thought of and it may be that some person with an artistic eye and a plump purse may some flay offer to construct it, giving it his or her name and leaving a memorial that will be as lasting as all time. The Work street bridge, however, will be a great convenience in many ways and the. commissioners have done a splendid thing by having it built.