The grand dame of Bay Area bridges is turning 75 this year, and organizers have cooked up a two-day party along the San Francisco waterfront to celebrate.
Hopefully the celebration will draw the Golden Gate Bridge out of her recent emotional doldrums. Word on the deck is that the bridge was bummed after being snubbed by Forbes in its list of the world’s most incredible bridges.
Things got bad enough that she went out and had some work done. Her Doyle Drive approach is being enlarged and modernized, and she’s adding a refurbished visitor center and cafe at her south end.
Absent from this year’s party is a pedestrian walk, as there was in 1987 for the bridge’s 50th birthday. The congestion and delays caused by the first walk — not to mention the temporary flattening out of the bridge’s crown — was enough to rule it out for this party.
The Golden Gate Festival will be held Memorial Day weekend, May 26 & 27, from Pier 39 to Fort Point. Music, dance, art, a corny theme (“Bridging Us All”), and even a boat parade will help ring in the big bridge’s very big birthday.
All the hoopla culminates with a fireworks show Sunday night the 27th at 9:30. Historical weather conditions show a good chance for cold, cloudy conditions on that day of the year. Let’s hope the GGB gets more than colored clouds for its birthday fireworks.
