Dear Preservation 911,

Jack Kerouac's Bridge in Lowell, Mass. (Steve Lindsey)

The University Avenue Bridge in Lowell, Mass., is slated for demolition.  It is best known for its association with novelist Jack Kerouac, who frequently used the span when he walked through Lowell's Franco-American neighborhoods. The state department of transportation plans to build a replacement bridge nearby.

One night while returning home with his mother, Kerouac witnessed the death of a man carrying a watermelon. The "watermelon man incident" is given a chapter in his auto-biographical novel Dr. Sax. Since this is one of Kerouac's more enduring images, perhaps the span should become a National Literary Site, in the way that Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond and Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables, also in Massachusetts, have become.

Beyond the literary connection, the University Avenue Bridge provides an excellent vantage point to view the rapids of the Merrimack River.  It is this view on dark, moonlit nights that so inspired Kerouac.

The bridge was built during the Gilded Age, in the 1890s at the height of Lowell's industrial might. It is a pin-connected deck truss. It is 486 feet long. Its names include the Moody Street Bridge, the Textile Bridge, and the Textile Institute Bridge.

We hope to preserve the existing span as a public space and pedestrian-bicycle route.  One model that inspires us is Shelburne Fall's famous Bridge of Flowers. The organization model we hope to emulate is the Friends of the Schell Bridge. They are hoping to save a similar size bridge in Northfield, Mass. We hope to succeed in this endeavor, following the precedent set by the preservation of Boston's Old Northern Avenue Bridge. It was also targeted to be razed.

For those interested in helping us, please contact the Friends of Jack's Bridge at savejacksbridge@hotmail.com.

Sincerely,
Steve Lindsey

E-mail the writer with advice, comments, or commiseration.

Got a 911 in your town? Send us an e-mail.

Preservation 911 is a message board open to all readers. While National Trust staff will respond to the extent feasible, this will not be possible in all cases. We encourage other readers involved in state or local preservation to respond with advice or assistance. To contact either a regional office of the National Trust, a statewide or local nonprofit organization, or your state's historic preservation office, click here for a state-by-state list.

The National Trust's regional and field offices bring the programs and tools of the Trust to communities across the country. They offer technical assistance through consultations and field visits and financial help through small grants. They hold educational programs for professional preservationists and work to foster policies that help historic places. They also provide leadership on issues that concern entire regions, such as saving historic schools, fighting sprawl, and revitalizing cities.

Recent 911 distress calls