This little weekend adventure found my wife out of town and this dad trying to entertain three girls. We headed to our neighborhood park, but then my girls asked to go to the ‘Toy Bridge.”
That’s our name for one of my favorite things that the city of Augusta has done: renovating the old rickety Fifth Street Bridge into a walking bridge for the community. They added several fun interactive elements like puzzles and large musical instruments, which is how my girls gave it our moniker.
But as our lovely city often does, they introduced a bit of controversy with this project. What remained from the past was this bridge’s dedication to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. This is an issue that is fraught with political opinions which I don’t want to dive into. However, it’s a bold choice to completely makeover this bridge but still go to the lengths they did to keep every mention of Davis intact, without adding any additional or modern context.
One thing that’s not controversial is just how incredible the views of the city are when strolling along this bridge, now known as the 5th Street Freedom Pedestrian Bridge, and what a great opportunity it is for families to get out, get some exercise, and have some fun together. I hope folks on both sides of the Savannah take full advantage.
