The Rehabilitation
In June 1960, local historian C.C. Burford wrote an article for The News-Gazette reflecting on the interesting history of the stone arch bridge. By this time, the stone arch became a local foot bridge and pieces already started falling out of the arch and into the stream below. Burford, a member of the Champaign County Historical Society (CCHS), wrote the article as part of a series that highlighted local community development in honor of Champaign’s centennial. Burford and the CCHS wanted to use the occasion to stimulate local support for the bridge. Buford argued that “it should be preserved as a part of our far-flung park system.”
Three years later, the CCHS continued the late Burford’s efforts to preserve the bridge. They contacted the land owner and discussed the possibility of placing a historic marker at the site. The CCHS’s efforts were spurred by rumors that the Champaign City Council planned to demolish the bridge for an improvement project. It was nearly a decade later when there was a push to fix the Boneyard Creek that interest in the arch bubbled to the surface again. The Champaign Park District obtained the land the bridge was on in the late 1970s and started a major effort to protect and preserve the local landmark.
In early 1980, a fundraising campaign was launched by the park district to repair the bridge. By this time, nearly half of the structure fell into the creek below. With the exception of some local masons whom patched a few sections, there had not been any real effort to fix and maintain the arch over the years. Bricklayers from a local union volunteered to work on the arch for the park district. The design for the reconstruction was done by members of the campus chapter of the Civil Engineering society. In preparation for the project, University of Illinois students enrolled in a leisure studies class collected bridge stones that fell in the creek so they could be used in the reconstruction.
As funds continued to be raised for the project and work began, the park district submitted a nomination form for the bridge to be added to the National Register of Historic Places. The form was completed in October 1980, approved January 2, 1981, and officially entered into the registry on May 14, 1981. With this designation, the arch was formally warranted some limited protections and it opened up opportunities for potential government grants and aid.
Reconstruction of the bridge was completed in 1982, and in 1984 the bridge was incorporated into Helms Park through a recreation easement. Further fundraising was needed to complete the landscaping, so a 1986 poster drive was launched to finish the project. The photo was taken by local photographer Larry Kanfer and the poster was designed by Andi Witczak. After this final phase was completed the bridge remained mostly unchanged until 2010 when plans were made to improve Scott Park and Helms Park. Part of this project included relandscaping around the arch and the addition of a black metal handrailing on each side of the bridge.
