After 80 years of service, the last pedestrian, bicycle rider, and motor vehicle crossed the double-leaf bascule South Park Bridge bridge at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 30. A bittersweet neighborhood event coined a "wake" celebrated the closing, and while Mayor McGinn, Seattle Councilmembers Richard Conlin, Sally Clark, Tom Rassmussen, and other dignitaries attended, the bridge was the star of the show.

It seemed many in the crowd expressed a mixture of frustration and hope. The bridge was laid to rest, but with $80 million raised for a new bridge, there seemed a spark of optimism among politicians and neighborhood residents.

"I just thought it was important to be down here," said Mayor Mike McGinn, dressed in casual attire. "This bridge is a real loss to the community so I wanted to come down and be with them. There's a lot of movement on the funding and the city will do its share but there are still some hurdles to come so I hope we can put it together."

"In South Park they roll with it," said Councilmember Sally Clark. "It is kind of an appropriately cynical air to what is basically a bridge closing festival. They do it right. The momentum for funding is good and everybody's on the right song sheet so when we go to the Feds I think we're lined up better than we were for TIGER I (grant.)"

The city, county, and state will request a TIGER 2 Grant from the Federal Government in August to close the financial gap on the cost of a new bridge. They applied for a TIGER 1 Grant and were turned down at the beginning of the year.

"It is disappointing that the bridge is closing without a replacement ready, but tonight in the air there is really a positive community spirit and this whole observance is really organic for this community and this neighborhood," said State Senator Joe McDermott as he crossed the bridge just before it shut. "It feels good. I'm optimistic that in a very short period of time we'll know that we have all the money and be able to move forward."

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