Keeping The Peace

There was a time when I thought we would see the destruction of the Peace Bridge. It was a time when the New Millennium Group (and others) were pushing for one ‘signature bridge’… a ‘superspan’. The Peace Bridge somehow managed to escape being thrown into the obsolete category, and has since been heralded for its historic greatness (by some… not by all). At the time that the bridge was built, there was much fanfare. It was a major accomplishment. These days the bridge is swarming with controversy. Regardless of where you stand on the issue of the Peace Bridge, the Public Bridge Authority has released a hard cover book, documenting the eighty-year lifespan of the structure. It’s hard not to appreciate the Peace Bridge once you have flipped through the pages of this recently released book.
2000 copies of Peace Bridge: The Dream and its Evolution have been published. 500 of the copies have been donated to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. 500 more have been dropped off at the Fort Erie Museum Board. The remaining thousand copies will be retained by the Public Bridge Authority to be used for gifts to visitors. I briefly flipped through the book this morning and found it packed with fascinating photos and stories relating to the entire history of the bridge and the surrounding land and waters. The book’s author, Mike Cloutier, has documented the people that supported it, the different plans that were examined, the ferries that predated the bridge, the construction, the different countries coming together, the archaeological discoveries… so many different stories that most of us have never heard before.
The books are currently in stock and are being sold for $29. It’s a wonderful tribute to a bridge that is celebrating its 80th birthday.
BECHS 25 Nottingham Court | Museum phone number: (716) 873-9644