What is 1.7 miles long, is painted a fetching shade of international orange and turns 75 this month?
California’s Golden Gate Bridge, of course.
Referred to by the San Francisco Chronicle as a “$35 million steel harp” when it first opened to automobile traffic on May 28, 1937, the Golden Gate is one of the world’s most well-known suspension bridges and is a classic “must-do” experience for visitors to San Francisco.
“It’s a giant piece of Art Deco architecture, an engineering marvel and an international icon that has a lot of meaning and memories for a lot of people in a lot of different ways,” said David Shaw, director of communications for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservatory, a nonprofit group.
On Tuesday, in preparation for a year-long Golden Gate Bridge anniversary celebration, a new 3,500 square-foot Bridge Pavilion opens to the public.
Located in the southeast plaza on the San Francisco side of the bridge, the pavilion houses interpretive exhibits about bridge-related history, engineering and innovations and will serve as a welcome center for a wide variety of bridge-related activities.
Also opening Tuesday is the renovated historic Round House, which will be the staging area for new 45- and 60-minute daily public tours of the bridge (including the first night-time bridge tours), and the site of a photo booth that uses “green screen” technology to provide backdrops of bridge locations, such as the top of the tower, that are inaccessible to the public. “It will allow visitors to get photos of themselves on the bridge on those days when the bridge pulls its disappearing act and hides in the fog,” said Shaw.
The year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge officially kicks off May 27 with a full day of events throughout San Francisco. Events include displays of bridge-related memorabilia and educational exhibits, a display with at least one car from each year from 1937 to the present, a parade of historic boats, music and dance performances and art installations. The day will end with a grand fireworks display.
“For the 50th anniversary of the bridge, in 1987, they closed the bridge to automobiles and opened it just to pedestrians. Thousands more people than they imagined showed up,” said Shaw. “Homeland Security is now much tighter, so we won’t be doing a bridge walk. But the bridge sidewalks will be open and the bridge will also be open to automobiles and bicycles.”
Visitors who can’t make it to San Francisco for the Memorial Day weekend event can still join the party. Seventy-five tributes to the Golden Gate Bridge are planned, consisting of a series of public arts, cultural and history events, and are being presented by Bay Area museums, cultural centers, arts organizations and children’s groups throughout the year.
“It’s said that the East Coast has the Statue of Liberty and the West Coast has the Golden Gate Bridge,” said Shaw. “And while the Statue of Liberty has a clear message, the message of the bridge is a bit more personal: It’s the gateway to San Francisco and to the Pacific, but everyone attaches their own meaning to it.”
More stories you might like:
- Heathrow feeling the heat as Olympics approach
- Woman 'too fat to fly' sues Southwest Airlines
- Video: Uniforms causing illness, airline employees claim
Find more by Harriet Baskas on StuckatTheAirport.com and follow her on Twitter.