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Bridge opening prompts high-level partying

Akron and Cuyahoga Falls joined by new span in 1949

By Mark J. Price
Beacon Journal staff writer

Published on Monday, Jul 13, 2009

 

There's nothing like a bridge to bring people together. Akron and Cuyahoga Falls set aside their deep rivalry 60 years ago to celebrate the grand opening of the High Level Bridge over the Cuyahoga River.

More than 100,000 attended the dedication ceremony, parade and dance July 13, 1949, for the silver structure connecting North Main Street in Akron to State Road in the Falls.

The steel-grate span replaced a crumbling concrete viaduct — also known as the High Level Bridge — that extended from North Howard Street about 220 feet to the west in the Gorge.

Almost as soon as it opened in 1915, the original bridge started falling apart. The speed limit was lowered to 10 mph as motorists dodged potholes on the two-lane deck. Traffic bottlenecks kept drivers waiting in lines.

Pete Mellinger, 76, of Stow, who grew up on Second Street in Cuyahoga Falls, remembers riding as a child in his father's car across the dilapidated bridge.

''There was a Shell gas station on the Akron side,'' he said. ''Many times when we went by there, the 'S' would be out in 'Shell,' and my dad would say, 'Well, we're headed
to hell.' ''

Summit County Engineer Arthur F. Ranney, who led the drive for a new bridge, waited out the Depression and World War II before he could secure funds. The project cost $2 million — about $17.8 million in today's money — with federal funds paying for half, and the county and state splitting the difference.

Akron Airdock builder Wilbur Watson & Associates of Cleveland drew up plans. Bates & Rogers Construction Corp. of Chicago won the contract.

Work began Feb. 4, 1948, on a four-lane, cantilever bridge 785 feet long, 52 feet wide and 210 feet high. Builders used 2,900 tons of structural steel, 322,000 tons of reinforcing steel and 4,350 tons of concrete.

Mellinger and his pal Michael LaCasella served as unofficial inspectors during the construction. On Sundays, the boys ventured onto the unfinished structure to check the progress, ignoring the obvious danger. There were no barricades to keep them away.

''We'd walk out on the bridge, look around and throw rocks off,'' he said.

Sometimes, they entered the Gorge from Front Street and explored beneath the steel beams.

''There wasn't much in the way of a path up there,'' Mellinger said. ''You had to grab trees and shrubs, and claw and climb to get up.''

On the other side of the river, North Hill youths were doing much the same.

Robert Fiocca, 81, of Akron, who grew up on Oakland Avenue, said children played in the Gorge at their own peril.

''A lot of crazy kids did goofy things on that old bridge,'' he said. ''On a dare, a neighborhood boy jumped up onto the railing. It was a concrete railing maybe a foot wide, I guess, and he walked . . . all the way across.''

 

The Cuyahoga Falls Merchants & Manufacturers Association, North Hill Board of Trade and Akron Chamber of Commerce sponsored a big party for the opening of the new bridge.

They organized a two-mile parade with 70 units, including bands, floats and marching groups. Among the participants were Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Gold Star Mothers, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Army-Navy Union, Marine Reserves, National Guard, Shriners, Elks and Eagles.

Queen selected

Sponsors held a popularity contest to select a bridge queen to preside over the gala.

Marilyn Keiffer Strother, 77, of Cuyahoga Falls, remembers being one of 13 contestants. She was 17 years old and entering her senior year at Falls High.

''Somebody gave us a roll of tickets like you get at a carnival,'' she said. ''We were to sell those for a penny apiece. The person who brought in the most money was the winner.''

Nancy Crites, 21, of North Hill, was crowned queen and won a $1,000 diamond ring. In second place, Nancy McCormish, 18, of Franklin Township, won a star ruby ring.

Strother, who finished third, received a gold watch that she treasured for years.

The queen and her attendants wore formals as they sat on the backs of convertibles and waved to people on the parade route.

''I was reading about all the bands and everyone who had participated in this,'' Strother said. ''I thought, 'Why don't I remember any of that?' Then all of a sudden, I realized we were in one of the first cars that crossed the bridge. So everything was behind us.''

Gov. Frank Lausche was supposed to cut the ribbon, but he turned over the scissors.

 

''The honor belongs to your county engineer, Arthur Ranney,'' Lausche announced. ''He spearheaded the fight to get the bridge and then saw it through its building, step by step.''

Ranney snipped the tape and declared: ''I dedicate this great bridge to the people of Akron and Cuyahoga Falls and the rest of Summit County.''

Police closed the old bridge. Navy sailors Joseph T. Gray, Harold Brooks and A. Leslie Core, all of Kent, were the last citizens to drive across it. A year later, the bridge was dynamited.

Hour-long parade

The parade began at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Temple Square on North Hill, traveled north on Main Street, crossed the new bridge and disbanded at Broad Boulevard in the Falls. Spectators stood 10 people deep. The caravan took an hour to pass.

 

''It was a beautiful, beautiful day,'' Strother recalled.

The parade offered the Falls girl a rare trip to the exotic locale of North Akron.

''We really didn't venture out,'' she said. ''Especially young people. We were pretty self-contained over here.''

As the parade passed, the crowd roared with approval.

''Big crowds were there,'' Mellinger said.

Home from his first year at Northwestern, Fiocca stood on the bridge and watched the parade with buddies. He will never forget what happened next.

Near the end of the procession, bands marched in lock step on the steel-grate deck. They must not have known that marchers are supposed to break cadence on bridges to avoid creating destructive vibrations.

Fiocca saw the bridge's 30-foot light posts begin to sway.

''At first, you got the sensation: 'Is this thing moving?' Then you noticed these lights starting to swing up above,'' he said. ''Then I remember everybody looking at each other. Then it turned into sort of a panic.''

People scrambled off the bridge. Some women's high heels stuck in the grated surface. At least one woman fainted.

''It was just chaos, as I remember it,'' Fiocca said.

Fortunately, the fear subsided and the parade ended happily.

Engineers explained that the bridge was supposed to sway. They said the parade was the biggest strength test the structure would ever endure.

Couples danced after dusk as an orchestra performed on State Road at the Cuyahoga Falls approach. Children rode in whirling carnival rides. Fireworks exploded off the old bridge.

Two years later, Strother won the 1951 Miss Akron Pageant at Summit Beach Park and competed in the Miss Ohio Pageant.

''Now that I'm older and falling apart, it seems like a dream,'' she said with a laugh.

Sixty years ago, the High Level Bridge closed the gap between Akron and Cuyahoga Falls.

''That was a big day,'' Fiocca said.

''It was fun,'' Strother said.

''I always thought it was a neat bridge,'' Mellinger said.

 

Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send e-mail to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

 

 

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