There’s been grumbling in The Eagle’s Reader Views about the footbridge towers at the Keeper of the Plains project, including one lettertoday that said the towers were "ugly, ugly, ugly." The main complaint is that the large white towers detract from the Keeper. One of the project architects explained in a news article in Wednesday’s Eagle that the contemporary-looking towers on the suspension bridge are a tie-in with nearby Exploration Place. And he said that people should reserve judgment until the bridge is completed later this year. Do you bloggers have opinions yet?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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27 Comments
I like ‘em. Very evocative to see those silhouettes in the distance as I cycle on by.
Do I think the towers of the bridge are ugly, out of place, and other wise another waste of money? HELL YES!!!
I thought the idea of repairing the keeper of the plains statue and cleaning up around the museum and rebuilding the river was a great idea.
UNITIL I SAW THE PLANS…. Just like every other project in Wichita, the idea is great until the designers and the council/commission get their two cents into it. They have to screw it all up.
First of all, the bridges dwarf the statue and have basically just wiped away the purpose of raising the statue 30 feet (i think, correct me if I’m wrong).
Second of all, you are placing suspension bridges across the river when personally, a nice plain, causeway bridge would have been 1) sufficient and 2) better looking and more in-tune to the environment around it. i.e. the statue. The designers wanted to tie the bridges to Exploration place, well that would be fine if on the other side of the river was another futuristic attraction, not a statue that represents Wichita’s History.
Third, what is up with these fire fountains that are supposedly going to be sitting in the river? Can we say waste of money!
I think overall, this is another city run project that has wasted a lot of money and manged to pollute the skyline rather than improve it.
Oh: I bet you Black Bear Boson (sp?) would approve of these monstrosities next to his statue….
Suspension bridges? The kind that swing and sway? The kind that, when several people are on it, five kids decide to run across, shaking the bridge and everyone on it?
Now won’t THAT be fun?
Sorry RD, Not like the one at the Zoo… Try Golden Gate style… Concrete walk way, big green steal cables, etc…
Tony – how about getting a Boy Scout troop to build a bridge!
Now that would be fun..
the ultimate in field sobriety tests …
Thank you, Tony! Did you hear my relieved sigh?
Oh, glad that was your sigh…
I thought it was a collective gasp after reading one of Paul’s posts in another thread… ;-)
Hmmmmm, apparently I haven’t gotten to that one yet. I’ll have to go look. You have raised my level of curiosity.
RD – ask Tony about the Boy Scout bridge we plan to replace it with. Then you will not sigh – you will gasp! IN TERROR!
Are the “Towers,” meant to support the forthcoming Inflatable Roof?
I don’t think they’re ugly, but again, it’s design to support a bridge for the Keeper of the Plains.
People are still thinking about viewing the Keeper from the street, like we always have for many years. Until Exploration Place hid it, nobody paid any attention or even cared it was there.
But the bridge is to accomadate the people for a new view at the Keeper. Instead of viewing it from the street or behind it from the Indian Center. You’ll be able to see it from right out front.
I think once people experience this new view, they will no longer look or care about the suspension bridge support towers.
The Heathrow Hoax
I have always advocated for the bridges and im not saying the bridges are wrong… What i am saying is the current design of the bridges is wrong. The design detracts from the Keeper.
Like i said earlier… Either a very short, understated causeway type bridge or possibly a very small suspension bridge utilizing natural materials, something similar to the bridge at the Zoo.
Ben (or Tony),
Is this Boy Scout bridge by any chance made completely of rope? Those boys do love their knots! I’ve seen one of those at the Renaissance Faire and watched my kids try to conquer it. If that’s the case, I’m really afraid to ask any more. But do, pray, continue. *grin*
I am going to reserve judgement on the towers until the project is completely done. Of course when its done I am sure Wichitans will still complain and whine about it.
RD,
How did you guess! its 3 pieces of rope stretched from one side to another in the form of a V. There are Suspension ropes from the top two down to the bottom 1. the fun thing about this bridge is that you only have one little cable to use to walk across…
How to address Keith. I dont look at is complaining if their is a valid reason behind it. These bridges are placing something new and larger next to something that has been a part of this cities history for what, a half a century? Its not what the artist would have wanted, its not what a number of the Indians at the Indian center wanted… So, i see justification in our “wining”.
Tony! How do you know?
$20M, but oh all those city/county officials need to be re-elected because they are such good little fiscal conservatives and trying hard not to raise your taxes by cutting every other city program except those that profit construction firms (arena and indian) hmmm. Oh, and it’s ugly.
The problem I see is that people who are whining are doing it before the project is even done. How about waiting to see what the final project is like and then see if it really is that distracting.
I agree, Keith. Driving by the construction on the Keeper does not yet give an idea of the overall look of it. Sadly, I haven’t kept up on the refurbishing, so I wasn’t aware of a bridge. That does explain the wishbones. I do think that the Keeper should be the focal point, but I’m in wait-and-see mode.
Tony,
I vividly remember the moaning and groaning over the Tripodal. Most have now grown used to it, but it was orginally considered not only a monstrosity, but an eyesore. Not the prettiest piece of artwork I’ve ever seen, but it has grown on me.
My daughters call the feathers on the bridges “the giant dildos,” but I kinda like them. Do I think they’re needed? No, but I’ve also seen what other major cities have done, and I don’t see a problem with a little “beautification.” I probably won’t like it all (thinking about that UFO landing site, here), to each his own, I guess. Somebody thought it was cool. I often wonder what the people of Chicago first thought of the cows.
lol, the cows…
Yea, RD, i agree, i could see how the tripodal is weird… but its also a lot smaller…
I to thought the things in the bridges were a little strange, but they have also grown on me… but i liked the christmas lights they used to put up on the old bridge better… ;-)
I guess id like to see more consideration put into whats around the art… The UFO landing pad probably would be kind of need in a different part of town… maybe old town, maybe the entrance into downtown… just there is a bit strange…
the bridges are the same way… Ben and I came up with another idea, using the same design of a bridge and connecting Century II and the newly relocated Arena (where LD Stadium is now…) That would fit. where it is now, doesn’t.
I like the bridge. It will be sad when Exploration Place goes down the tubes, never realizing its potential. Then the bridge will complement what?
Exploration Place will be closed in two years.
About five years ago, I remember attending a public meeting conducted by a consultant, one Al Nucifora from Atlanta, to request the public’s input for improving the Arkansas River frontage in downtown Wichita. I don’t remember the details but I do recall that Nucifora threw out the idea of raising Black Bear Bosin’s “Keeper of the Plains” Indian statue. He also proposed building the eternal “ring of fire” around the base and bridging the confluence of the Arkansas Rivers at that point.
Those in attendance also offered a number of interesting ideas that had merit. One was building some sort of modified “rides-type” entertainment area with perhaps a permanent ferris wheel with the theme of “somewhere over the rainbow” along the river.
What I do remember is the attendees did not like Nucifora’s ideas and told him they wouldn’t be worth the cost. I particularly remember one fellow describing at length the erratic flow of the Arkansas River over the years.
Some focused on not changing the height of the Keeper of the Plains statue because it’s position had been carefully selected by Artist Blackbear Bosin. Others objected to the eternal flame idea.
TONY, I recall suggesting the pedestrian bridge be placed downstream where it would actually be beneficial, from Lawrence-Dumont Stadium across the Arkansas River to vicinity of the new Hyatt Hotel.
Unfortunately, Mr. Nucifora seemed to have his marching orders and was sticking to them.
I don’t think anyone there anticipated a bridge design copying San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge that would dwarf the Keeper of the Plains at any height. It might be better now to move the Keeper of the Plains to the other side of the Indian Center Building to draw attention to its entrance.
As far as I know, no Native Americans were involved in the decision-making on this multi-million dollar ($25 million dollar??) budget busting project.