50/50/50… #18: The Former Bridge To Nowhere

Whenever I see Stony Brook alumni out on the road, they seem to obsess over one thing… the “Bridge To Nowhere.” From the official site:

A relic of the 1960s campus building boom, the notorious it was originally supposed to connect the Library with the Student Union. However, for reasons lost in the mists of time, construction was never completed and for years the raised walkway came to an abrupt and precipitous end. (Legend says contractors inverted the blueprint and built the structure wrong way round.) Eventually the Bridge was extended and rerouted across the Plaza, but it remained a rarely used eyesore. Few mourned its demolition in 2003.

Okay, maybe “obsess” is a strong word, but as much as “few mourned its demolition,” it still gets discussed — a lot. I’m glad it’s gone; it’s a nice signal to alumni that the campus is veeeery different than it was even just a few years ago.

Incredibly, I can’t find a good picture of the bridge during its heyday anywhere on the internet. I found this one, of the demolition:

And a (somewhat) more current bridgeless view:

3 Comments

on “50/50/50… #18: The Former Bridge To Nowhere
3 Comments on “50/50/50… #18: The Former Bridge To Nowhere
  1. I traveled the bridge extensively from 1982 to 2002. I loved it. You felt real great being up there. Me and my friend had a crazy idea, and we drove our car onto the bridge [ halfway accross], in 1982. We did it at dusk, and entered onto campus from near the parking garage, drove onto it near the library, then half way accross. We were too scared to go all the way to the union. we went in reverse, and drove back—just to be caught by campus security [near the parking garage]. They weren’t police back then, and they didn’t see us near the bridge , or library . we told them we were looking for a professors office, and we didn’t get in trouble.

  2. Class of '77. I can't believe it's gone. I can't believe we weren't invited to raise a glass and witness the demolition. I can't believe they didn't sell the bricks. So, so wrong – and such a missed opportunity. That messed up piece of crap was like a mascot to us.

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