 
Assembly Resolution No. 284
 
BY: M. of A. Palmesano
 
        COMMEMORATING  the  100th  Birthday of the Corning
        Centerway Bridge
 
  WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative  Body  to  support  the
preservation  and commemoration of venerable landmarks which express and
preserve the social and cultural origins of  this  great  State  of  New
York; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Attendant  to  such  concern,  and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this  Legislative  Body  is  justly  proud  to
commemorate  the  100th  Birthday  of the Corning Centerway Bridge to be
celebrated with a  Kick-off  ceremony  on  Tuesday,  May  25,  2021,  at
Riverfront Park; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Centerway Bridge opened to traffic in 1921, when Warren G.
Harding was president of the United States; it closed to motor  vehicles
in 1981, when Ronald Reagan occupied the White House; and
 
  WHEREAS,  It  was  built to relieve the stress of growing automobile
and streetcar traffic on the Bridge Street Bridge, the city's only other
river crossing in the early 20th Century; and
 
  WHEREAS, The project was so  controversial  that  the  decision  was
submitted  to  city  voters  in a 1920 referendum, which passed by a 2-1
margin; and
 
  WHEREAS, In return for its approval, Corning's Houghton family  gave
the  city  100  acres  of land on the Northside that became the Houghton
Plot residential district; and
 
  WHEREAS, This earth-filled, seven-span  structure  was  designed  by
pioneer concrete bridge engineer Abraham Burton Cohen (1882-1956) of New
York  City;  two  of  his  other projects, the Harrison Avenue Bridge in
Scranton,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and   Western
Railroad's Tunkhannock Viaduct, are on the National Register of Historic
Places; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Details  of  the  design and construction of the Centerway
Bridge are preserved at Cohen's alma  mater,  Purdue  University,  in  a
collection of his work; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Although  high  water  and a fire in the construction area
complicated the building process, the bridge was finished in the Fall of
1921 and paved the following Spring; and
 
  WHEREAS, Over the next six decades, wind, rain,  snow,  ice,  floods
and  increasing  traffic caused the deterioration of the bridge until it
became obsolete for 20th Century traffic; and
 
  WHEREAS, It was scheduled for demolition  in  the  Spring  of  1980;
before  it could be torn down, hundreds of people gathered on the bridge
to demonstrate their support for preservation of the landmark; the "Save
Our Bridge" campaign was successful; and
 
 
  WHEREAS,  An  extensive  renovation led to its reopening in 1986 for
use by pedestrians, bicyclists and  double-decker,  English-style  buses
carrying  tourists from the Corning Museum of Glass to the Market Street
Historic District; a maze painted on the bridge roadway  became  popular
with children; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Use  of  the bridge by the tourist buses eventually ended;
another major renovation, which began in 2012 and was completed in 2013,
created today's bridgescape of a park suspended above the Chemung River;
and
 
  WHEREAS, It is the custom of  this  Legislative  Body  to  recognize
those  distinct unique features throughout the State of New York such as
the Centerway Bridge in the City of Corning which provide transportation
opportunities for its residents and have become a part of the history of
this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it
 
  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
commemorate  the  100th Birthday of the Corning Centerway Bridge; and be
it further
 
  RESOLVED, That a copy of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted to Mayor William Boland, City of Corning, New York.
Commemorating the 100th Birthday of the Corning Centerway Bridge

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