Road Trip to a Place Worth Saving

When a quirk of climatic fate deals you 80 degrees on the first day of April, you can't stay in the office.

I'd been meaning to check out this Sutliff bridge I've read so much about, and add a few more words to the pile. The morning paper told me that the Johnson County Board of Supervisors is expected to decide the bridge's fate this week.

I read the news. I felt the sun. Road trip.

The eastern third of the bridge was washed away by the flood of 2008. It's a registered historic landmark, built in 1897, so the federal government has pledged $1.7 million to rebuild the bridge and may fork over more for upgrades. Local volunteers, led by Randy Howell, are raising money for upkeep. Howell owns the popular Baxa's Sutliff Store and Tavern adjacent to the bridge.

The old bridge is for walking and gawking, not vehicles. Before the flood, people could walk out and take in the view. They could bring food and drink from the tavern. By all accounts, it was a pretty nice place to spend a summer evening.

If the county doesn't repair the bridge, it can use some of the federal bucks to tear it down and the rest for other projects. Some people say it's stupid to repair an old bridge when the money can be used to fix roads. A lot of derision is being heaped on the bridge by the very practical people who seem to buy derision in bulk. They save a bundle.

I'm not a Johnson County taxpayer, so I can't comment on its roads. I can say, after covering government for a while, I've found that the most consistent argument against spending public funds on anything besides roads is that the money should be spent, instead, on roads. So it's tough for me to have much passion for pavement, and its perpetual need for repairs.

I can speak only as a federal taxpayer, who likes to see history preserved, and an Iowan.

Having visited Sutliff, I now know that it's not Mount Rushmore or Old Faithful. I didn't hyperventilate at its stunning vista.

Iowa has few hyperventilated vistas, come to think about it. What we do have are smaller, more subtle, but no less enjoyable, places that gently remind us why we love it here. We have favorite spots that grow on us over time, and don't let go. I think Sutliff bridge is one of those places. 

Veterans marched on it. People got hitched on it. "It's an important part of people's lives," said Howell, who grew up here.

And yes, some people got drunk on it, but the restored bridge would be an alcohol-free zone, backers say. Howell welcomes the change.

Every time we lose a unique spot like this one, weathered by history but still full of life, Iowa becomes a little less Iowa. And in this case, money is available to avoid one more sad case of historic identity theft.

I hope the county votes to save the old bridge, and one more piece of what makes Iowa our home.

Comments: todd.dorman@gazcomm.com