Belfast footbridge celebration blasts off this weekend Fireworks, music, parade planned

BELFAST – Spanning 1,000 feet of the Passagassawaukeag River, a restored version of the bridge that carried U.S. Route 1 traffic from the 1920s to the 1960s will be celebrated this weekend.

For the past 40 years, tourists and townspeople have zoomed across a vastly taller and wider Veterans Memorial Bridge next door, but the old structure, in one form or another, has been restored for some $4 million.

Backers will have a grand reopening Saturday with a parade and a host of other events, including fireworks.

“It should be a big day,” said Jim Bell, the city’s parks and recreation director. “We’re going to have a great time.”

The piers supporting the footbridge also supported the old Route 1 Veterans Memorial Bridge built in 1921. That bridge was closed to traffic in 1962 and its deck and railings were removed last year.

Now, the landmark is to be officially dedicated, and events Saturday will be followed by Founders Day at City Park on Sunday.

Dubbed “Connecting the Community,” the celebration will begin with a boat race at 9 a.m. Saturday and conclude with fireworks from the bridge at 8 p.m.

Area contractor Dan Fox has been busy the past few days, cleaning the site around the former Stinson Seafood sardine packing plant in preparation for the crowd. The abandoned construction site was a waterfront eyesore until Fox and his crew took charge.

The day will begin with a canoe and kayak race organized by Come Boating. The race will begin at Thompson’s Wharf, go under the footbridge and the big Route 1 bridge, then back. At 9:15 a.m. hundreds of yellow plastic ducks will be launched into the tide and the first one to pass under the footbridge will win its owner a cash prize.

At 9:30 a.m. tunesmith Fingers Frank Wareham will warm up the crowd with his accordion. Wareham’s set will be followed by a parade across the footbridge with Mayor Michael Hurley as grand marshal and a number of local officials and members of the committee whose efforts spurred the bridge project.

The Belfast Area High School band will march in the parade, and the famous Leapin’ Lena car will motor across the bridge. A VFW and American Legion color guard will lead the parade.

The formal dedication will take place at 11:15 a.m. with a number of speakers, including state Transportation Commissioner David Cole.

The footbridge was originally dedicated to the city’s World War I veterans, and a plaque bearing their names will be restored and dedicated on Veterans Day 2007, according to bridge committee member Tammy Scully. Scully said the committee decided the veterans deserved recognition.

“We wanted it to be a different kind of ceremony. Saturday is all fun and games. The dedication of the memorial plaque is a more solemn occasion,” Scully said.

At 11:30 a.m., the footbridge’s drawbridge will be opened and a parade of boats will pass through the gap. Fingers Frank will warm up the crowd once more at noon, followed by a bridge pull tug of war on the bridge deck. Bagpiper Tom Seymour will perform at 1 p.m., followed by the duo Lilly’s Way.

U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District will address the gathering at 2 p.m., followed by a performance of period music by the Belfast Maskers, mime Roving Bob, and boat rides into the evening. The bridge lights will be turned on at 7 p.m. followed by fireworks at 8 p.m.

Food vendors, face painting and balloon sculpting also will be part of the program.

Founders Day will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at City Park. The Lincolnville Community Band will perform at the park. Also planned are an ice-cream and cake social, horseshoe pitching, and horse-drawn wagon rides.

“It will be a nice, old-fashioned park get-together,” Bell said.