Here’s a piece of trivia for you: what RPI landmark appears in nearly every pamphlet and flyer that RPI puts out? I’ll give you a hint—it’s old and dirty, and you probably crossed it six times today if you live on the hill.
Yup, it is the footbridge that is a few years past its prime. The bridge holds a warm fuzzy spot in most people’s hearts, but to me it is a dinosaur left over from the early ’70s. Concrete was never stylish, not in the ’70s, not today. At least we made use of the giant concrete waffle at the end of campus by turning the massive piece of “modern” art into a decent coffee shop—heck, they even added a library on top for show.
The entire walkway from the Public Safety building to the end of the DCC is made of giant concrete slabs that have tilted over the years and now turn the walkway into a maze whenever it rains. As we walk across the bridge in the rain, the metal caging drips on us, and we prepare ourselves for the next stage of the game I call “getting to class without stepping in a pond.” The large puddles have claimed several victims over the years, and the ankle-deep lake near the first DCC door has been known to destroy unsuspecting students on a weekly basis.
Even during that one day when it wasn’t raining, the lopsided slabs look like a sloppy job done by lazy college students, and the holes in the side of the bridge for lights that broke a decade ago only add to the Troy-ness of it all.
The interest on the hundred million dollars being pumped into the EMPAC building to keep it from sliding into Troy could be used to put up a visually appealing walk to class. It could be any style from Georgian (matching the Quad) to modern like the Biotech Center.
Anything would be better than the nasty worn-down concrete and metal that is the current footbridge.
Why do they insist on putting this archaic piece of architecture on every advertisement for RPI? Sure it’s a staple of our daily visual diet, but that’s exactly why I’m writing this. I don’t know how many thousands of people cross this bridge on a daily basis, but a new bridge and walkway sure would get their money’s worth, as opposed to some other plans, such as the athletics village.
We could even have our own archies design it for us, and maybe the lighting center can install some of those newfangled LEDs they were showing off on the RPI website.
