After more than four years of closure, the pedestrian bridge across the Tombigbee River will reopen this weekend with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebratory concert.
Mayor Keith Gaskin said the celebrations on Sunday will emphasize the bridge’s historical past while also looking at its future as a key part of the Riverwalk.
“It’s been a long four years of trying to get back to where … our citizens (can) enjoy the pedestrian bridge again,” Gaskin told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “We’re going to have a few speakers kind of give an original history of the bridge … and what we hope the future will be going forward.”
The event starts at 2 p.m. with a performance by Grace Notes String Trio, followed by the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Then festivities will move to the Riverwalk Stage below the bridge for a free concert featuring Delta Rising with John Mohead.
The ceremony will take place almost 11 years after the last ribbon-cutting for the bridge, Gaskin said. Built in 1927, the bridge closed in 1991 and reopened in October 2013 as the pedestrian bridge after a $2.2 million restoration.
In February 2020, a tow boat was pushing eight barges down the waterway when the vessels grounded near the channel opening to the Old Tombigbee River. A second boat came to aid the grounded vessel, but a loaded barge broke loose during the process, drifted down the channel and struck the bridge’s eastern support pier, prompting the closure.
The city sued the companies that owned the two boats in 2021 and accepted a $4.2 million settlement in February 2023, which covered the cost of repairs.
Malouf Construction, contracted by the city, started repair work on the bridge in September 2023, which involved building a temporary truss to lift the bridge above the damaged pier, so it could be removed and replaced. Repairs wrapped up at the end of September, allowing the city to schedule Sunday’s reopening celebration.
Brian Gildea’s business, Gildea Enterprises, is the executive producer for the event along with co-producer Rick Mason. Gildea said reopening the bridge will help revive activity at the stage below it as well.
“It’s a step forward in the process of revitalizing that area,” he said. “That venue has been primarily used for the Sounds of Summer series. The last one there was in the summer of 2019. That’s sort of why this is big.”
The Delta Rising show will feature a full eight-piece band with multiple singers and a mix of old R&B and rock and roll favorites, Gildea said. Mohead, who performed at the Rosenzweig Arts Center’s Omnova Theatre in July, is a singer-songwriter with more than seven albums of original music. Gildea called the upcoming performance a celebration of the Mississippi Delta’s music and culture.
“We’re encouraging people to bring their lawn chairs and blankets,” Gaskin said. “It will be how it was when it used to be Sounds of Summer.”
With the bridge open, the public will have better access to the amphitheater, one aspect Gaskin said he’s especially excited about.
“I’m hoping that people will go over and look at the amphitheater and get excited about the future concerts and things that we hope to have there in the not too distant future,” he said.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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