“What’s a tridge?”
It was a question that occurred to me only after
seeing a small road sign pointing to “tridge” in downtown Midland, Michigan one
late winter day.
Some of the best and most interesting stops we’ve
found in our travels occurred when we’ve spotted a roadside sign that caused us
to veer off of the main roads and do a little exploring. Finding Midland’s
trademark tridge made for an intriguing photo opportunity, especially given my
fascination with bridges and odd or unusual structures.
We quickly turned in the direction of where the sign
pointed us and soon saw the city’s most iconic and identifying image.
Midland’s tridge is, just as you might guess from
looking at the word, a three-way footbridge spanning the Tittabawassee and
Chippewa rivers in the city’s Chippewassee Park. The unusual structure sits at
the juncture of the two rivers and serves as a central meeting place in the
city.
Concerts, family festivals like the annual three-day
River Days event, political rallies, fundraisers and other events often occur
at the Tridge. Groups like the Midland County Convention and Visitors Bureau
use the Tridge as part of their logo, and “The Tridge” also lends its name to a
monthly publication covering area politics, music, culture, fiction and poetry.
Built in 1981, the Tridge cost $732,000 and 6,400
hours to build. From the ground, the Tridge is imposing enough, and you can
definitely see the Tridge’s “Y” formation when viewing an aerial photo of the
structure.
The Tridge sits near a farmers market, the Trilogy Skate
Park for skateboarders and the trailhead of the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail, a
30-mile trail for walking, bicycling and other non-motorized traffic that runs
from downtown Midland to the city of Clare, Michigan.
The weather was a little cold when we were there, so
the park and iconic Tridge were empty and quiet. We spent quite some time
exploring the site and scouting the area out for a possible return in warmer
weather for bicycling along the trail or geocaching in and around the park.
An interest in architecture initially brought us to
Midland for that weekend.
We drove to the city, a few hours north of our home,
to see an exhibit about the work of architect Frank Lloyd Wright at the Midland
Center for the Arts. The center’s show also included exhibits detailing the
work of one of Wright’s well-known apprentices, and Midland’s own, architect
Alden B. Dow. Midland is home to Dow’s home and studio, as well as many
Dow-designed buildings.
So, I guess it’s particularly appropriate that we
should discover one of Midland’s architectural landmarks during our visit to
the city. We’re looking forward to returning to Midland to learn more about
Alden B. Dow and other cool Midland architectural landmarks.
© Dominique King 2008
Oh, this is on my to-do list now. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
Posted by: Linda | February 18, 2009 at 08:24 AM
Linda-I knew you'd like this bridge! As you can see from the photos, there was a bit of snow on the ground when we visited...but it looks like the park would be a great place to picnic and do some fun things like geocache in warmer weather.
Posted by: Dominique | February 18, 2009 at 08:55 PM