Vandals tip over bridge tribute

The “Golden Gates/Bridge Over Troubled Borders” in Arivaca, designed and constructed by a internationally famous artist/architect, was tipped over and the sign located on Arivaca Road pointing the way to the bridge was torn down, the property owner said Saturday.

Laura Carroll, who with her husband, Ben Jackson, owns the 10-acre property on which the bridge — a memorial to those illegal immigrants who died in the desert — was constructed by Tucson artist Neil Bernstein.

Perhaps even more ominously, said Carroll, the daughter of the late Rev. Joe Carroll of the Valley Presbyterian Church in Green Valley, she heard multiple gunshots for about half an hour as she walked her property, starting about 3 p.m. Saturday.

Carroll, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and walks with great difficulty with a cane, said she had five children at her home that day for a “play day” and hustled them immediately into her house. Attempting to identify the source of the shots, she walked in the direction she thought they were coming from, only to hear them then originate from another direction, as if they were surrounding her, she said, adding that it was an extremely frightening experience.

Even before the memorial bridge was built, Carroll said she and her husband have been plagued by armed visitors on ATVs claiming to be searching for illegals in order “to round them up and detain them before the Border Patrol arrives.”

“It would curl the hair of the people in Green Valley if they knew what has been going on out here in Arivaca,” Carroll said.

Although unnerved and extremely upset by the incidents, Carroll said she repaired and restored the sign, located off Arivaca Road, between Milepost 10 and 9 on the south side, directing the public to the memorial.

Bernstein, who also righted and repaired the memorial bridge, said the memorial’s opening will proceed as planned at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The 30x40-foot memorial bridge, located on a widely known pathway for illegal immigrants, is constructed of industrial-size steel pipe and painted a sparkling gold.

Bernstein said he hoped it would serve to increase awareness of the tragic deaths illegal immigrants face and, hopefully, foster dialogue between warring factions in the illegal immigration debate and lead to a solution.

The artist said the bridge will remain in place in Arivaca until the end of May, when it will be transported to museums in Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Bernstein has conducted other monument/memorials to victims of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina victims and the millions who died in the Holocaust.

The memorials were constructed near the site of the tragic events and then found their way to museums around the world, Bernstein said.

Kathy Engle is a freelance writer who lives in Amado. Contact her at kdengle@earthlink.net.