(Spirit Lake)– An important piece of Dickinson county history may have some new life.
County Engineer Dan Eckert told the board of supervisors Tuesday crews have successfully removed the old swing bridge from the Little Sioux River, where it was being used on a county road that’s since been closed. The bridge was the original swing bridge on what is now the Highway 71 causeway between East and West Lakes Okoboji back in the days of the pioneers.
Eckert told the supervisors the county road department contracted with a local construction company that has a crane. He says it wound up costing a little more than $4,000 to get the bridge out of the river and on dry ground.
Rough estimates put the scrap value of the bridge at about $3,000. But it was a concensus of the supervisors and Eckert to try to get it into the hands of someone who would like to restore it. The bridge is listed on the state’s historic preservation list, and Eckert says officials with the State Historic Preservation Office are strongly hoping it can be restored.
Eckert told the supervisors three people have expressed interest in the bridge. One of them, Butch Parks, was at Tuesday’s meeting. He told the supervisors he would like to relocate the structure to some land he recently purchased at the Lutheran Bible Camp where he says he would restore it into a historical attraction. He also expressed interest in possibly acquiring the former Spirit Lake Baptist Church, which the county also currently owns, with the thought of moving it to the same location and making it into a wedding chapel.
It was the concensus of the supervisors to hold off on doing anything with the bridge for now until they have some time to check with the County Attorney’s Office to see what the proper legal process would be.
