Judging by commentaries after your recent Times articles, absolutely no one has anything good to say about the just-opened bridge over Jesse Jewell Parkway. The bridge has actually become the local “joke” in many conversations when anyone mentions Gainesville.

Skipping past why the bridge was conceived in the first place, how much it cost, who will eventually pay for it, and if it will ever lead to anything other than an empty lot, I would like to take a different tact.

From a design standpoint, “The Bridge” is actually very beautiful! Its builders and designers are to be commended. It is worth noting that its design is in the spirit of recent dramatic bridges by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

I particularly admire its elegant, white sweeping arched curves and the way it neatly joins into the ground on each end.

And while this structure is modern in design, it actually compliments the nearby white marble old City Hall building.

It is important to note that the bridge structure is all white. Once, all important government buildings in downtown Gainesville were stunningly white. The courthouse, City Hall, Federal Building, Old Post Office and base to Confederate “Old Joe’s” bronze statue are all white marble.

Most of these landmark structures were enhanced by being situated in large expanses of green lawns which imparted to locals and visitors alike the feeling of being in a city of classical elegance.

Beginning in the 1960s, it became both city and county policy to place buildings in every one of these open green spaces until none of this former elegance remains today.

The county-owned circle in the Downtown Square has never really qualified as one of these green spaces and does so even less today as it has become clogged with overgrown trees and monuments.

Every notable city and village anywhere in the world has a large, central, open green park or meeting space that marks and identifies it.

Gainesville has no such space. I believe it is now time for the city to rectify this omission.

One thing is for certain: “The Bridge” is here to stay.

Perhaps it will serve as a wake-up to what the future of downtown Gainesville could be if everyone were to come together with the vision, dedication and means to make it so.

Garland Reynolds
Gainesville