In this 30 minute live interview, ErieCPR President, Architect Adam Trott, documents how the Viaduct can economically be saved. ErieCPR Vice-President John Henderson, who lives near the Viaduct, strongly condemns for ignoring the needs and the voice of the Eastside.
Erie TV News: McBride Viaduct Debate Gaining National Attention
Jonothan Last of Erie News Now reports on ErieCPR’s “Plea to City Hall” noting that Adam Trott says its still not too late for Mayor Schember to be a hero, and “stop the demolition and turn everything around, save the bridge, and make a whole new story for the East side,”
YourErie.com
WJET 24 / Fox 66 / YourErie.com explains "Filmmaker to tell McBride Viaduct story in documentary “An Erie Silence.” YourErie writes “First, landing on the front page of the New York Times, then just last week being featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine and now an Emmy-Award-Winning filmmaker is highlighting the controversy in a documentary…”
Viaduct Controversy Discussed in Design World
Timothy A. Schuler, writing in Landscape Architecture Magazine, notes that the planned demolition would force children to walk and bike on a path along a highway, thus breathing unhealthy vehicle emissions. Schuler notes that world-wide, 10% of deaths in small children are due to air pollution. Will Erie, the “worst city” for African-Americans disregard this concern for impoverished residents who rely on the McBride Viaduct to get to school, work, shopping, recreation, family, friends and where ever else they need to go?
Petition to Gov. Wolf & Lt. Gov.-elect Fetterman
Help keep kids safe by signing a petition to Gov. Wolf and Lt. Gov.-elect Fetterman to urge the City of Erie, PennDOT & the PUC to save the the #ErieViaduct / McBride Viaduct / East Ave Bridge.
Emmy-Award-Winning Filmmaker is Documenting Erie, PA
Screen shot from Lisa Russell’s film, “An Erie Silence.”
Judy Lynch: Irish History Embedded in Viaduct
Erie’s first Irish mayor, Charlie Raycroft Barber, supported the 20-years-long effort by a priest from St. Ann Church to create a bridge over the railroad tracks at East Ave. The McBride Viaduct was dedicated in 1938, two years after Barber was elected.
Former Erie County Executive, historian Judy Lynch, outlines the rich history that Swank Construction will obliterate if they demolish the McBride Viaduct (East Ave. Bridge) as has been directed by PennDOT, the Public Utilities Commission and the City of Erie
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The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Paradise Baxter to dismiss the McBride Viaduct suit has condemned one more of Erie’s historical structures to the ash heap. Let us salute those who struggled for more than 20 years to see it built.
Father Raycroft, a Catholic priest descended from Irish immigrants, was commissioned to build a church on East Avenue to meet the needs of Irish immigrants on Erie’s east side. St. Ann Church was consecrated in 1905. Father Raycroft died and was replaced by Father Lawrence McBride in 1919.
Father McBride, later Monsignor McBride, was aghast at the struggles of east-siders who daily walked or drove over the railroad tracks. He created an internal Guard of Honor and through this organization and annual communion breakfasts began to push for a bridge over the railroad tracks to connect East Avenue with its southern neighbors. In November 1929, when four upper east-siders were killed on the railroad tracks, the fight for safe passage intensified. In October of 1929, the Great Depression rocked the country but resulted in federal and state funds for infrastructure.
Monsignor McBride knew that the time was ripe and intensified his political activity to help to elect Charlie Barber, Erie’s first Irish mayor, in 1936. It was Erie County Commissioner Thomas Flatley, again of Irish immigrant ancestry, who ranked the construction of the viaduct as Erie County’s No. 1 priority. The viaduct was dedicated in December 1938 and Monsignor McBride was lauded for his 20-year fight to increase the safety and connectivity of the east side.
Now the city will tear down the McBride Viaduct, obliterating a historical marker and much of its Irish history. Will the demolition create the imperative of another 20-year struggle to address the need for greater safety and connectivity of the East Avenue neighborhood?
— Judy Lynch, Millcreek
PUBLISHED: Letters to the Editor, Erie Times-News, Sunday, November 11, 2018
Vigil at the Viaduct to feature Prayer, Poetry and Song
Join Rev. Dr., Mock, Cheryl Horton-Jong and others for prayer, poetry, song and silence during the Viaduct Vigil, 5:30pm, Friday, November 2, 2018.
Inspiration for Erie: Transformation of Philly Viaduct
Matt Rouke (Associated Press) documents the first 1/4 mile phase of the planned 3 mile-long Rail Park on the Philadelphia Reading Viaduct.
Writing in the Washington Post, Scott Pruden documents Philadelphia’s visionary adaptive reuse of an existing asset - the Reading Viaduct - to create a new Rail Park.
Will Erie, PA’s elected leaders understand the amazing potential of the McBride Viaduct / East Ave. Bridge before it is too late? Why is the status quo - including the local paper - dismissing advice from national experts who have explained the Viaduct’s crucial role as a pedestrian and bike artery - and they way it can help transform the city’s struggling Eastside?
Isn’t it time for Erie to listen to national experts like Charles Buki, Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove, Toni Griffin, Philip Langdon, Charles McKinney, John Norquist , Terry Schwartz and local leaders including Rev. Dr. Charles Mock and Abdulla Washington and rethink the shortsighted demolition plan?
Vigil set for 5:30pm, Friday, November 2
Gather for a VIADUCT VIGIL, 5:30pm, Friday, November 2. Witness Rev. Dr. Charles Mock's opening prayer. Take a moment to consider the people who have driven, biked and walked across this bridge for 80 years. Listen to Cheryl Horton-Jong sing and then blow out your candle and head home!
Sunset Supper: Cold Weather / Warm Community Gathers to meet APAPA
ErieCPR VP John Henderson, ErieCPR Community Outreach Cynthia Muhammad, and ErieCPR Past VP Beary Clark speak to YourErie reporter Tiarra Braddock as tonights Sunset Supper begins.
A dedicated group of Viaduct supporters set up tables, chairs and tents tonight. They brought a mike and battery operated amp, banners, flyers and played a loop of Viaduct testimonials taped on the bridge. With amazing food from CHEF LISA, coffee from TIM HORTONS, a new chapbook edited by CEE WILLIAMS, spoken word poetry by BIGG WASH, music by JULIE VON VOLKENBURG, animation by RON BLEVINS, prayers, commentary and singing - the event was a resounding success. We toasted the absent APAPA members and hope they are inspired to pay their own visit to the #ErieViaduct ASAP.