A Delaware Bridge Will Be Closing For More Than A Year
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The Delaware Department of Transportation announced that a Delaware bridge will be closing for more than a year.
The St. Georges Bridge will be closed to all traffic for 18 months.
According to a press release “The $45.8 million contract, awarded to J.D. Eckman, Inc., involves demolishing and replacing the bridge decking, median barrier, drainage features; replacing bridge approaches and roadways; and repairing other bridge structural features. Work is funded by the federal government through Energy and Water appropriations.”
So how do you go around or what route should you take to avoid traffic?
DelDOT says traffic will be detoured to the Senator Roth Route 1 Bridge. St. Georges Bridge will close to all traffic starting on April 4, 2023. Additionally, the contractor will begin to close bicycle lanes in February 2023; however at least one bicycle lane will remain open until April 4, 2023.
The repairs will cover multiple aspects of the bridge.
The focus will be on the structural condition and travelling surface of the bridge.
The bridge was built in 1941 and was midified in 2010. There has been no real overhaul or major construction of the bridge in over 20 years.
Even though the bridge officially opened in 1941, it has a history that dates back even farther,
“The first crossing of the canal at St. Georges was a wooden swing bridge constructed circa 1829. The enlargement and conversion of the canal into a sea-level operation in the 1920s required the construction of new lift bridges. A Pratt through truss was constructed in 1924-29 by the Phoenix Bridge Company, which featured a length of 450 feet, a main span of 205 feet, 138-feet of vertical clearance for vessels, and a roadway deck of 24 feet. The new St. Georges Bridge opened to traffic in March 1929″ according to Bridges and Tunnels online.
The Delaware Department of Transportation announced that a Delaware bridge will be closing for more than a year.
Inside the Abandoned Cine'Mart Theater in Wilmington Delaware
In the late 60s and early 70s, movie theaters, drive-ins, and strip mall cinemas were popping up all over the nation. They were the new craze. Branmar Cinema had just opened their doors, along with Tri State Mall’s old theater. And then came the Cine’Mart Theater on Governor Printz Boulevard in Wilmington, Delaware. The first date of the box office opening at the Cine’Mart was January 20th, 1969.
According to the credited research that Edwin Graf Diemer contributed to Cinema Treasures for this story, “The shopping center [across the street from Cine’Mart] was built just following World War II and quickly became the most popular shopping destination in Wilmington.” The theater seated 984 people and there was only 1 screen, similar to Branmar Theater just a couple miles away. A newspaper released at the time of the closure stated, “The CineMart, Northern Delaware’s largest motion picture theater was closed over the weekend. Employees of the 984-seat theater on the Governor Printz Boulevard said they were notified of the closing just hours before it was shut down.”
The theater was steadily losing “$50,000 to $60,000 a year” and fell behind on rent. The owners did ask the owners of the Merechandise Mart to twin the theater, but they declined. At the same time of the CineMart closure, the Edgemoor Theater, which was only a few hundred yards up the road, would close when their lease expired.
Edwin cited that “The auditorium was completely in gold with wide rocking chair seating. The front was deeply curved to allow for the screen, with curtains that went to the rear of the auditorium.” According to local WJBR listener, Gary Rauso who has been to the Cinemart as well as Branmar Cinema, stated “It was the first theater in the area to have surround sound.” This theater, along with many others across America, actually were booking shows ranging from G-rated to explicit pornographic films. The theater was originally built to operate solely on X-rated pornographic films, but the Budco company acquired the theater from Hallmark Theaters of Massachusetts and started showing all varieties of films. The first film ever shown at the Cinemart was in 1968, titled “The Odd Couple”. The last ever film shown there was “The Exterminator”.
The downfall of the Cine’Mart was actually due to the Concord Mall on Route 202 in Wilmington. The Mall had been built with a theater of its own and sucked the life out of the Cine’Mart. This also resulted in the abandonment of the entire Merchandise Mart. Today, the Cine’Mart is fully abandoned, but remains standing with boards up on every possible entrance.
For a more-in depth read of the history of the Cine’Mart, I highly recommend reading Edwin’s full contribution on Cinema Treasures.
