City hopes to stop vandalism of land bridge

A procession of people make their way across the Vancouver Land Bridge during its inauguration ceremony on Aug. 23. Officials are planning to install a gate on the southern entrance to the bridge, which has been beset with vandalism. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

St. Louis has its arch. Seattle, the Space Needle. Vancouver has its land bridge.

Arching over state Highway 14, the bridge is a 40-foot-wide, earth-covered pedestrian walkway lined with indigenous plants and basket patterns borrowed from American Indian artwork. It connects historic Fort Vancouver with the Columbia River waterfront.

It’s also been a target for abuse.

A month ago, commuters heading to work passed beneath large block letters proclaiming “Free Energy.”

The vandalism marked the latest mishap on a $12.25 million bridge formally dedicated just four months ago, with famed artist Maya Lin joining Seattle architect Johnpaul Jones and other luminaries in the dedication. Besides incidents of graffiti, thieves have stripped the bridge of copper artwork.

The loss of the miniature replica petroglyphs is particularly wrenching for Jane Jacobsen, executive director of the Confluence Project, which commissioned the bridge.

“The amount of copper they got off, they could not have gotten more than $5,” she said. “It was just meanness.”

City officials are taking steps to alleviate the problem, starting with a gate blocking nighttime access to the bridge’s southern entrance at Old Apple Tree Park.

City officials recently reached agreement with BNSF Railway to install the gate in the tunnel below the rail line, said Jan Bader, program and policy development manager for the city of Vancouver. The gate will help enforce a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the bridge.

“If somebody really wants to get in, they would have to climb up the side of that railroad berm,” Bader said. “You would really have to work to get in there.”

City spokeswoman Loretta Callahan said the bridge’s location, set apart from downtown, makes it imperative for motorists and passersby to call 911 if they notice illicit activity — or if they notice anyone at all on the bridge after dark.

“When you have people around and many eyes helping to watch, that discourages those who would otherwise deface something,” she said. “Citizens are our best resource here for helping to keep an eye on the community.”

Bader said the Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust contracts with a private security firm to patrol the reserve as well as the bridge.

Tracy Fortmann, superintendent of the National Park Service site, called the vandalism a temporary blemish on an “incredible and worthy feature for our extraordinary community.” She said vandalism is nothing new to historic or culturally significant sites; the key is to report it and remove it quickly.

Jacobsen agreed.

“I think there are, unfortunately, angry people everywhere. I think (it needs) a community awareness to pay more attention and be more observant,” she said. “I always think that karma will get them somehow.”