The Brookside bridge on the Santa Fe trail (pictured left) located on the stretch of the Santa Fe between Woodrow Wilson High School and Lindsley Park has served as a nice spot to catch a little shade while biking of the Santa Fe trail. Unfortunately, vandals have also seen it as a blank canvas for graffiti.
In an effort to spruce up the bridge, Jerry Mendive and fellow board members of the non-profit Friends of the Santa Fe Trail have worked with the Dallas Parks and Recreation department-who is responsible for the upkeep of the trail- and gotten permission to do a little paint job of their own on the bridge. Now the Santa Fe Trail Friends are seeking volunteers from the community to assist with the painting work.
Students from Woodrow Wilson helped the Friends of the Santa Fe clean up the trail earlier this year.
The painting project will be held in two phases, the first being applying a base coat to the bridge at 9 a.m. this Saturday, July 13. The following Saturday, July 20, the painting stencil work will be done to complete the project. Anti-graffiti paint, rollers, and brushes will be provided.
Earlier in the year the non-profit formed a partnership with Woodrow when the PTA President and his daughter, a Woodrow student, contacted the non-profit to see how students could help keep the trail near their school an asset to the neighborhood. Shortly after, the students met and had their first trail clean-up day. More Woodrow students are expected to be present at the bridge painting as well.
The designs for the new painted stencil that will be painted on the bridge, which were created by board member and architect Scott Taylor, are below. Mendive says that the finished project will resemble a combination of option 1 and option 3:
As to whether the new painted bridge will prevent future vandalism, Mendive tells us via email that the non-profit and the city will be responsible for the bridge upkeep and that the “the trail people are prepared to paint over the graffiti if it becomes necessary.” To learn more about the bridge painting project or volunteer email Lawrence Mendive at mendive@sbcglobal.net.
