YOUNGSTOWN,
Ohio --Youngstown State University students can again
“Meet at the Old Stone Bridge.”
The stately,
26-foot-long bridge, a campus focal point before it was
nearly covered with dirt about 40 years ago, is being
unearthed this month as part of YSU's upcoming
centennial celebration.
“I've talked to couples
who were engaged on this bridge, who met friends on the
bridge and who walked across the bridge on their way to
Jones Hall for commencement,” said Paul McFadden, YSU's
chief development officer. “It is part of YSU's
forgotten history, and it's only appropriate that we try
to return it to its original grandeur and share it with
today's generation of students, faculty, staff and
friends of the university.”
John White, professor
emeritus of anthropology and sociology, is leading a
team of about a dozen volunteers -- including about five
YSU students -- to carefully uncover the
bridge.
“This is the best kept secret on
campus,” White said. “Now, when people ask, 'Do you know
where the old stone bridge is?' Well, now everyone will
know.”
The bridge is located in the tranquil,
little-traveled area between Maag Library and Wick
Avenue on the YSU campus. It was once part of the
driveway to the Henry C. Wick Mansion on Wick Avenue
and pre-dates Jones Hall, which was built in 1931 on the
corner of Wick and Lincoln avenues.
Photographs
in YSU yearbooks from the 1930s through 1950s show
students sitting and walking across the small arch
bridge, and one photo shows the members of the class of
1942 posed in front of the quaint
structure.
Sometime in the 1960s, the bottom
portion of the bridge was filled in with dirt, leaving
only a few inches of the stone top above
ground.
This photograph
of the "Old Stone Bridge" was taken in 1958,
according to YSU.
In
the years since, the bridge has been mostly forgotten,
yet McFadden said he has met many alums nationwide over
the past several years who have inquired about the
bridge.
“I'd tell them that I've been on this
campus since 1979, and I've never seen any old stone
bridge,” he said. “I didn't know what they were talking
about.”
Then, one day about four years ago,
McFadden was jogging along Wick Avenue, ventured into
the area just east of Maag Library and ran across the
stone top of the bridge.
“I stopped in my tracks
and said, 'Hey, this is it. This is the bridge,'” he
said.
He contacted John White, who set up the
excavation crew.
YSU President David C. Sweet
said the bridge will become one of the symbolic focal
points in the build up to the university's centennial
celebration in 2008.
“As YSU prepares to bridge
another century, it's only appropriate that we work to
restore and celebrate this campus landmark,” Sweet said.
“Like YSU itself, the bridge represents
tradition and strength. With its revival, the bridge
allows us to reflect on the university's proud past and
look forward to a promising
future.”
