A rainy fall day brings out the colors of the stonework on Varsity Lake footbridge. The annual free Tree Walk is today, Oct 7, beginning at 5 pm. Participants are invited to join Alan Nelson at the south entrance of the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History.
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Great early fall shot of campus Doug! Great light. Who knew those stone in the bridge were SO red. Thanks.
Thank you for the wonderful memories of times past on our beautiful campus.
The stonework in this bridge is remarkable; any historical information available about its construction?
In response to Marilyn Fritzler’s query, here’s some historical information provided by Kaye Oltmans:
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Varsity Lake has been an aesthetic feature of the campus since the early days of the University. When the University opened, the lake was a ravine that had to be crossed by a “bridge of rough poles, steadied by wire guys (Glory Colorado p. 26)” in order to walk from the President’s house to Main. A dam was built at the end of the ravine during President Hale’s administration (1887-1892) and the area was filled with water to create a small but beautiful pond. In 1888 the Regents authorized the construction of a more stable bridge and soon there were two bridges side-by-side: one of stone and one of iron (Glory Colorado p. 61).
President Baker had the pond enlarged to its current size, and it became known as Varsity Lake. In 1894, the Silver and Gold commented, “The one thousand dollar frog pond has lately become the swimming pool of the dormitory boys (Glory Colorado p. 115).” It was well known that student tug of war contests were held on the bridge between freshmen and sophomores and the boys often ended up tumbling into the lake.
In March 1935 construction began on a new concrete and sandstone bridge that would replace the older two bridges and allow more people to cross at once. It was designed by the office of Waldo E. Brockway to match the Klauder architecture of the campus. The University’s sandstone quarry provided the construction materials, and students working under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and alongside EWD workers provided the labor (Colorado Alumnus 1934-1936, May 1935). The bridge was completed by Alumni Day on June 8th, 1935, and appropriately, Alumni had the privilege of being the first to cross the bridge.
Resources:
Glory Colorado, pp. 26, 61, 115
Colorado Alumnus 1934-1936, May 1935, p. 4; July, 1935