Alas. Here I stand alone, broken.
Once a majestic trestle, I carried log trains and
freight trains. Now my keepers say I can scarce support ten,
150-pound people!
I have stood proudly for the better part of a century,
a sentinel to the western approaches to Akeley, I have been the
gateway from the Crow Wing Lake headwaters to the lower 10 lakes
and river, I am one of the last vestiges of the lumber industry
that made Akeley the second largest city in Hubbard County.
I have graced the cover of phone books, been the
backdrop for innumerable graduation photos and postcards. I have
been the source of joy and adventure with children climbing my
girders, lying a few feet above the river, spear in hand, in
anticipation of the annual sucker run. I have awed Heartland
trail users with the incomparable panoramic view of 11th Crow
Wing Lake from my deck.
I have served long and well and have done so without
complaint.
Now, the very agency entrusted with my care, has decided my
usefulness is in the past. They say that I can no longer be
repaired. The technology that built me nearly a century ago,
apparently lost to the ages. My 150, 1-1/2 foot diameter
pilings, my 6” by 8” girders and 3” by 10” cross supports deemed
too weak to support a mere 1500 pounds.
How ludicrous! Some of the very contractors who are
bidding to tear me down have driven their vehicles across me
without fear, knowing full well I could still support a caravan
of vehicles!
I am wise enough to know that this is, in reality,
about the “motorhead” mentality that seems to have taken over
the DNR Trails and Waterways division for the last decade.
I cannot currently accommodate their trail groomer, so
rather than repair and retrofit me, they have chosen to tear me
down and replace me with a 25’ lower concrete structure.
“Akeley, where are you? Not a word has been uttered in
my defense. I have always been here for you. Don’t
abandon me in my greatest hour of need!”
The bids for my demolition and replacement have been
submitted.
Perhaps a groundswell of local support could convince
the DNR to rethink their options, use common sense, be more cost
effective and environmentally friendly and repair me and allow
me to serve as I have for the past century.
Alas. Here I stand alone, broken.
Ernie Opheim,
Akeley.
