On Monday night, the City Council reviewed updated designs for the new Bridge Street bridge.

Previously, the Council had chosen a more streamlined design, but at that time, the design didn’t specify details like the artwork on the bridge or the specifics of lighting.  This design has clarified those details.

The designers worked with the City, the Arts Commission, and The Old Cannery to get a design that moves this bridge into an even more iconic piece of Sumner while retaining many echoes to celebrate the past. The new railing closely resembles the existing bridge.  New “lanterns” echo the cupolas of Sumner’s older buildings plus the distinctive top of hops barns. Lattice up the sides of the lanterns remember the current bridge’s truss architecture while a cut-out detail design on the bottom celebrates Sumner’s agricultural past.  In the drawing, it shows hops vines.

These lanterns will glow at night, and the City can change the color to echo current Sumner events, such as yellow for the Daffodil Festival, purple for homecoming, and probably would have been blue and green right about now if the bridge was already built. Plus, to further celebrate the lights that we enjoy during the holidays, the new bridge will have tiny catenary lights strung across on wires, disappearing during the day and at night adding a special star-like experience across the bridge.

The poles to string these will be decorated like other Sumner poles with hanging baskets or banners or flags… you get the idea. The designers are also recommending either a color treatment on the cement sidewalk or stamping the concrete to look like the wood planks that currently cross the bridge.

Next, the City will review cost estimates for these and figure out funding sources from available grants and opportunities.