Details of plans for renovations to the Don Townsend Gateway Bridge in Sylvania, including beautification measures, are rapidly starting to take shape as the spring construction season approaches.
The bridge, which crosses the Ottawa River at Silica Drive, is a large piece of the Silica and Monroe Street improvement project, which is set to take over a long stretch of the roads from Northview High School to Kroger in the city for much of the next year.
Bridge construction is supposed to finish this fall and city officials want to add some sort of public art to the bridge site as they work to expand the width of the bridge and bring together the currently separate walking and driving portions into a more unified whole, with a sitting area and overlook on the bridge’s west side.
“I would say it was there all along,” Kevin Aller, Sylvania public service director, said Friday of the idea to add art to the site. “Exactly what it was going to be we did not know for sure, but it was in the concept that we would have a nice overlook area.”
The Sylvania Community Arts Commission is now taking submissions for the project, which is supposed to sit on a stone pillar next to a plaque with some information about Mr. Townsend, a retired art educator at Northview, who had the bridge dedicated in his name in 2018.
The deadline to submit ideas via online application to the commission is Feb. 28, with the winner promised to receive a $5,000 stipend.
The arts commission, which also runs the Sylvania Arts Youth Theatre and the Maple & Main Art and Music Festival, said on its website they are suggesting that works be constructed in ceramic, glass, metal, or other materials that would be appropriate to an outdoor environment.
Submissions should have some sort of theme centered around arts education to honor the legacy of Mr. Townsend.
Ken Dymond, executive director of the Sylvania Community Arts Commission, said that the project arose with much help and support from the city, who among other things, supplied the idea for the theme of the statue.
“We have had a very supportive culture in Sylvania for the arts,” Mr. Dymond said Thursday, “so when this project to replace the bridge came up through the city, one of the things they put in their plan was to enhance it with some sort of art work.”
Mr. Dymond mentioned structures like the entryways of Lourdes University, and various decorations in the city’s existing parks and other bridges, like the Main Street Bridge, which show Sylvania’s commitment to the arts.
A veteran volunteer with the organization, Mr. Dymond has been director of the Sylvania Community Arts Commission for the last three months, and has made it a point to prioritize infrastructure projects like this one, also looking to add murals and other beautifications to several underpasses on the bike trail that runs from Main Street east along the Ottawa River in Sylvania.
Sylvania Mayor Craig Stough, who officiated the original bridge dedication for Mr. Townsend in 2018, said Friday that the ongoing road improvements present the perfect time to add prominent pieces of public art to the cityscape.
“They wanted to honor his art education,” Mr. Stough said of the theming of the sculpture. “We think that art, performing or visual, is important to our residents to improve quality of life and assist in the education of our young people.”
First Published February 6, 2023, 12:00 p.m.
