October 7, 2009 Territorial News Page 13
Arizona’s Historic London Bridge
Bridge McCulloch dreamed of a tourist Bridge. A code was devised as stones used are 6 to 8 inches On October 10, 1971,
attraction to go along with it. the bridge was dismantled. Each thick. London’s new lord mayor, Sir
(From Page 1) In April 1968, newspapers piece was tagged with four On September 23, 1968, Peter Studd, perspired under
were filled with speculation that numbers: one indicated the Sir Gilbert Inglefield, Lord his heavy official robes in the
To junk the bridge would old London Bridge was about to span, another the row of stones, Mayor of London, laid the ninety-degree Arizona heat.
have been a historical tragedy. fall into American hands. A and the next two the position in cornerstone for Arizona’s “There’s not a Londoner who
Still, safety could not be ignored spokesman for the McCulloch that row. The pieces were then London Bridge, baptizing it with isn’t delighted to have the bridge
as the mud rose a little higher Corporation dropped several shipped ten thousand miles to water brought from the Thames, in its new home,” he said as five
each year. In 1967, the hints, but also managed while Lake Havasu skywriting planes soared
Common Council of the City of to say, “If we don’t win schoolchildren merrily overhead, welcoming the
London placed the bridge on the bid, we’ll just all sang, “London Bridge is thousands who had come to see
the market and began to look have breakfast.” The going up, going up, the dedication of London
for potential buyers. Council next day, however, the going up.” Bridge. Three thousand white
member Ivan Luckin had put news was out. Read The project took pigeons were released as
forward the idea of selling the one London headline: three and a half years, twelve skydivers slowly
bridge, and recalled: “They all “London Bridge Sold with English engineer descended over the desert.
thought I was completely crazy to Apaches!” Robert Beresford Cowboys, Indians, and Boy
when I suggested we should sell M c C u l l o c h ’s supervising the Scouts participated in a gala
London Bridge when it needed winning bid was reconstruction. The total parade depicting bridge history.
replacing.” $2,460,000. He tab for the bridge, McCulloch got his wish;
Enter Robert McCulloch of arrived at the figure by including dismantling, London Bridge is now Arizona’s
the McCulloch Corporation, doubling the bridge’s transportation, and second greatest tourist
famous for outboard motors and value as scrap granite reassembly, came to attraction, following the Grand
chainsaws. He’d begun planning and adding $60,000 London Bridge at Lake Havasu shortly
around $7 million. So Canyon. Lake Havasu city is a
a desert spa in the early 1960s because he would be after construction. that it would not be bustling community of resorts,
on seventeen thousand acres in sixty-years-old when stranded high and dry, a golf courses, businesses,
Mohave County, Arizona, after the bridge was dedicated. Long Beach, California, and mile-long canal was scooped schools, and of course, beautiful
visiting the area looking for a The next problem was trucked across the desert. The out between Lake Havasu and Lake Havasu itself.
testing site for his products. determining how he could move bridge at Lake Havasu consists Thomson Bay, creating a two- As for London, they built
Starting with a mobile home unit 130,000 tons of granite blocks of a concrete frame with stones square-mile island to be a new, modern bridge at the
for his workers, Lake Havasu and reassemble them into from the Old London Bridge occupied by hotels, restaurants, same spot as the old London
City quickly expanded and anything resembling London used as cladding. The cladding and similar structures. Bridge.
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