Bridge will honor Max Thompson, a honcho in the Historic Aycock Neighborhood.
Max Thompson could have stopped his civic work, his duty more than done. He had helped create the Aycock Neighborhood Historic District, served as the neighborhood association president and chaired the city's zoning commission.
But he kept being publicly active, and it's a good thing, too.
After much lobbying in the mid 1990s, he convinced the city to rebuild at a cost of $123,932 the Hendrix Street Pedestrian bridge. The span crosses the double-track Norfolk Southern Railroad and connects Aycock to another historic district, Fisher Park.
An old bridge at the same site lacked eye pleasing qualities. The new bridge, completed in 1997, is a beauty, with steel trusses and landscaped beautifully at both ends.
Thompson died last August at 62. His friends decided the most appropriate memorial would be the bridge.
It will be dedicated in his honor during a ceremony there May 18.
"Max was persistent,''says Mike Cowhig, a city planner who works with the the city's three historic districts, Aycock, Fisher Park and College Hill. "He wouldn't let the idea die."
At the ceremony, a plaque will be presented. Mayor Keith Holliday will speak, as will Max's son, Sam, and Chuck Newell, who with Thompson and a few others pushed the city to declare Aycock a historic district in 1984.
Thompson lived on Chestnut Street, not far from the bridge.
The original bridge was erected in 1909 and carried cars and small trucks over the tracks. In 1972, the city deemed the bridge too rickety for motorized vehicles, but allowed pedestrians and bike riders to continue using it.
In 1988, the city decided the bridge was even too risky for walkers and bike riders. It was barricaded for six years before being torn down, except for the abutements, in 1994.
That's about when Thompson began working for a new bridge to keep two old neighborhoods linked.
The replacement bridge stands where the old stood. It is higher to allow Norfolk Southern freight trains carry double-stacked trailers to fit under.
The ceremony will include entertainment by a barber shop quartet. Thompson, a landscaper by profession, loved that kind of music and once sang in a group.
Afterward, those attending will adjourn to Sternberger Park on Summit Avenue for a celebration.