Museum Celebrates 75th Anniversary With Project Clutha

Press release Thursday 04 February 2010

Article by Gary Ross, South Otago Museum

With the initiative of Project Clutha for this years River festival to celebrate 75 years of the Balclutha traffic bridge, the South Otago Museum been busy preparing a heritage presentation.

The annual river festival and raft race are popular calendar events with a rich heritage of their own. The opportunity to bring the heritage of the river to the river festival through the story of our respected traffic bridge will create an attraction for many.

The six arch Ferro or reinforced concrete Bowstring Bridge in Balclutha was not only built in an era of economic turmoil but also an era of great engineering monuments and stands today as an iconic structure for the district.
 
Registered as a category one historic building of national significance our bridge remains a symbol of achievement for the community and is displayed readily across Balclutha in brands and logos interpreted in many forms from sculptures to flags.

It is with this heritage and enthusiasm in mind that the museum is collating and presenting the story of this asset at this milestone.

The feature presentation planned for the 13th of February is a photographic exhibition depicting the evolution of river crossing in Balclutha with a focus on the construction of the traffic bridge that has lasted these seventy five years. This will be complimented by limited edition bridge jubilee canvas prints and a miniature Balclutha bridge for the children to promenade through on their way around what will be a full day of events at the 2010 river festival.
Gary Ross
South Otago Museum