The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Downtown pedestrians have temporarily lost their shortcut between Bellevue and Fourth avenues. Last Thursday morning, May 3, city workers removed the wooden staircase linking Bellevue with the Freedman Bridge. 'It was rotten and just had become unsafe,' said Director of Works and Operations Rick Bacon. 'The top support members had rotted and pulled away from the bridge.' Bacon said the city did its best over the years to 'patch' the stairs, but they had become 'unrepairable.' He said the city is now looking at options for replacing the staircase, in the same location, in the very near future. The new stairs would also be wooden, Bacon said. Gate seal In the meantime, a black steel gate seals the opening in the bridge railing where the staircase entrance had been located. Though he was not part of the city workforce at that time, Bacon said it appears the staircase predated construction of the bridge. The bridge was built in 1999 and is named in honour of the late long-time Flin Flon mayor Jack Freedman. Unfortunately, the bottom section of the bridge has become a common target for graffiti artists in recent years.
