Ted Spodarek never thought he would live to see the turn of a new millennium.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
“I just didn’t think I’d ever reach that, and I’m so surprised I’m past that now,” Spodarek, 103, told the Star. “All my friends are gone — there’s no one left.”
On Thursday, Spodarek stepped onto the Gordie Howe International Bridge for the first time.
At the hand of his walker, he made his way along the new multi-use path with his wife, Jacqueline Balogh, 80, beside him. His daughter Diane and close friend Karolyn Hart joined too.
After about 100 steps and two stops to rest, he turned back.
“I did enough walking,” he said later, over a coffee and sandwich at a nearby Tim Hortons. “It was awesome.”
“The bridge is very beautiful,” he added.
Spodarek was six years old when the Ambassador Bridge was being built.
He lived on Curry Avenue, just a few blocks from the construction site, and would watch workers dig deep beneath the Detroit River to reach the bedrock where the bridge’s supports would stand.
He remembers the blue clay they dug up from the depths of the Detroit River.
“I took it home and molded it,” he said.
The Ambassador Bridge opened in 1929, but Spodarek said he never walked across it.
The Gordie Howe International Bridge opened to vehicle traffic July 27. The toll-free, 2.5-kilometre path which opened Aug. 5., is 12 feet wide and accommodates two-way pedestrian and cyclist traffic. The bridge deck hangs 46 metres (150 feet) above the Detroit River. The towers, meanwhile, stand 220 metres (722 feet) — making it the highest structure in Windsor and rivalling the height of the Renaissance Center in Detroit.
