There’s something iconic about the old railroad bridge that greets those who head into downtown Northampton from the east. It’s an unusual little world of its own at times, a dark, dripping edifice, often housing the odd panhandler or two. To walk beneath it is to experience an incongruous bit of urban decay before entering the bright fray of downtown proper.
A couple of decades or so ago, says Tommy Devine’s Cosmos Report blog, the bridge bore graffiti: “Eat the Rich.” That was when the place was called Hamp. These days, in fancier Noho, nobody can find a place to park in order to get out and dine on the aristocracy.
In 1991, the Northampton Arts Council funded the creation by Leland Johnston of an artwork for the bridge. The result was the “Dream” mural, a sort of overhead view of a can of paint, upon which rests a brush bearing the word “Dream.” Time and the elements have since done a lot of damage to the work. The Northampton Arts Council reports that not only was the cost to restore the mural “staggering,” but Johnston himself “believes it is time for something new in that location.”
At the urging of former Ward 3 City Councilor Bob Reckman and Mayor Clare Higgins and with the aid of several funders (including an anonymous donor, the Leeds company Chartpak, and the new Northampton Business Improvement District), the Arts Council is undertaking an effort to adorn the railroad bridge with new art.
In November, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that a cleanup of the bridge area had already begun, and it turned up “everything from clothes to liquor bottles to crack cocaine pipes stashed in the trestle’s nooks and crannies.” The paper also reported that the Business Improvement District had hired a lighting consultant to figure out how to brighten things up underneath the bridge (though one wonders how much consulting is needed to suggest that lighting would be improved by putting more lights there).
This time around, a jury—aided by the input of citizens, who’ll be able to peruse the designs online—will decide what art ends up on the bridge. (Interested artists should visit www.northamptonartscouncil.org for details. Proposals are due Feb. 1, and April 1 is the projected date to announce a winner.)
In keeping with the spirit of the new effort, I undertook a brief and decidedly unscientific survey of possibilities for bridge art in order to report them here and maybe even prime the pump a bit for aspiring muralists.
Northampton’s political and business climate has certainly gotten a bit more lively, even contentious, since “Dream” was commissioned. Still, one imagines the notion of a toll booth for the Business Improvement District won’t win, even if it might help fund lighting consultation. Ditto on the cup dispenser for more convenient panhandling.
If you’ve ever dined in the window spot at Thai Garden and gazed out upon the not-infrequent sight of a truck stuck beneath the very low bridge, one survey respondent’s ingenious suggestion might appeal: how about a big set of teeth for the bridge dubbed “The Truck Eater”?
Along the same lines, Northampton’s timeless hippie appeal might be immortalized by hanging a bead curtain from the bridge. Or similarly, drivers who visit Northampton could pass through a free car wash, an idea which would also negate the need for further pre-installment cleaning. (And lighting.)
If it’s the more yuppified, retail facet of Northampton that’s to be celebrated bridgeside, the city could consider painting on the terrifying slogan I once spotted at a mall: “Shop like you mean it.”
Another fine suggestion was a massive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fight scene to celebrate the reptilian warriors’ birthplace. In the purely practical department, one respondent offered a new marquee to proclaim the menu of the day’s events in Northampton.
My own thinking brought me to two ideas. The first might seem a little silly unless you’ve ridden the Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags over Texas. How about a massive mirror so that drivers appear to be approaching a head-on collision until the last minute? Might even deter a trucker or two, saving the city a fair bit of money for bridge repair.
Or how about placing upon the side of the bridge a permanent, free and unmetered parking space? It would just float there, impossible and tantalizing, a monument to Northampton’s emptier past and an ode to its over-crowded present.
I have realized that these ideas are relatively unlikely to bring home the gold. It is therefore fondly to be hoped that artists all over the surrounding counties will provide mind-boggling and timeless suggestions (as they no doubt will). After they’ve whittled their pencils and come up with far better stuff, it ought to prove enlightening to peruse their suggestions and think about a new look for Northampton, one without quite so many truck collisions.