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2008 Central States Design Excellence Awards
Freight House Pedestrian Bridge
Once located along the riverfront, the Pencoyd Railroad Bridge was built in 1892 and closed in 1970. In 2006, the historic bridge was relocated to a new home in the Crossroads District, where it became part of a new and much needed pedestrian link spanning the railroad artery separating the Crossroads from popular civic destinations to the south including Union Station, Crown Center and Liberty Memorial.
Challenges included extracting the bridge from it’s original location, transporting it through downtown and developing a design that would accommodate it’s new use for pedestrians, rather than rail traffic. The final design threads a pedestrian walkway through the existing trusses, while elegantly expressing movement through massing and materiality.
The view of the bridge from any angle, day or night, introduces a dynamic element into the urban context. However, its most important attribute is its connection to the community, providing safe and easy pedestrian passage to the area’s vibrant commercial, civic, retail and residential destinations.