Suicide Bridge

Live music on three stages throughout the evening! Scheduled 2008 performers include:Aluminum Marshmallow and the Age of Aquarius Horns The Cain Enablers Chuck Manning Quartet Flattop Tom and His Jump Cats Mercy and the Merkettes Pasadena Scottish Pipes and Drums Snotty Scotty and the Hankies Wreck n Sow Strolling magic by Glendolf __________ 2007 performers: Wreck n' Sow Jaymee Carpenter The Hollywood Combo The Cain Enablers Mercy and the Merkettes The Superstitions Snotty Scotty & The Hankies and Strolling Magic by GlendolfPasadena’s Colorado Street Bridge is a marvel to behold, with its majestic light standards and graceful arches across the Arroyo Seco, a natural gorge 150 feet below.When completed, the Colorado Street Bridge was not only the first curvilinear bridge ever designed but also the tallest concrete bridge of its day. It is now a Civil Engineering Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.The bridge has been threatened numerous times in its 93-year history. In 1935, it was to be demolished to make way for an early freeway design, which was never completed. In 1951, the wrecking ball hovered again when plans for the Foothill Freeway became a reality. A public outcry saved the Bridge, and the new Freeway Bridge was built beside it. The bridge remained an important, if shabby, regional transportation link, structurally sound but cosmetically crumbling. Some significant changes were made to the bridge over the years, including simplifying the light standards and removing the beautiful balustrade, and adding a suicide barrier to deter jumpers.On December 13, 1993, the Colorado Street Bridge was dedicated anew and reopened to traffic. A proud Pasadena crowd turnout out to walk, drive, bicycle, horseback ride, skate and push tots in strollers across the bridge. The celebration of its rehabilitation continues with Pasadena’s annual summer extravaganza on the beloved span. The community turn out by the thousands every July to celebrate the past and the future of the Colorado Street Bridge.