Artist moves bridge tribute to Tombstone

The Golden Gates/Bridge Over Troubled Borders, located off Arivaca Road on private property, was taken down Thursday and moved to a site in Tombstone, according to artist/architect Neil Bernstein.

He said the decision to move the bridge, which was officially dedicated Feb. 28, came as a result of a second act of vandalism Saturday when the bridge was knocked over and the golden fabric draping it ripped to shreds.

However, the property owner, Ben Jackson, disputed that any act of vandalism occurred. He said he didn’t call the Pima County Sheriff’s Department because he believes the bridge was toppled by high winds. He said he was outside hanging laundry near the bridge site and heard it vibrating in the high wind, then went to see that it had fallen over.

“There were no vandals. I never saw anyone out there,” said Jackson, who owns the 10-acre property with his wife, Laura Carroll.

Jackson said vandalism could possibly have occurred on Saturday, Feb. 23, when the bridge overturned, but not last Saturday.

Bernstein disputed that, saying that the 40-foot-long, 30-foot-high bridge, constructed with industrial pipe and painted gold, had been secured, after the Feb. 23 incident, with big blocks of concrete and 1,500 pounds of water. He said he believed it would take at least two people and “a lot of effort” to tip it over.

Bernstein said the decision to move the bridge was made by mutual consent to spare Jackson and Carroll any further stress.

After the Feb. 23 incident, Laura Carroll, who out of town this week attending a conference, said she heard gunshots coming from several different directions. The incident upset her so much that she reportedly took her children to stay in a hotel.

Jackson said he has seen the bridge blow over three to four times before it was secured, but was adamant that no acts of vandalism occurred last Saturday. He said he and his wife asked Bernstein to take down the bridge and leave.

“We wanted him gone. We have to get back to normal,” Jackson said, adding that the presence of the bridge only heightened the couple’s alarm about previous incidents involving the presence of unknown armed men on their property.

The bridge was to be dismantled into four sections Thursday by Bernstein and volunteers and trucked to another private property site in Tombstone, where it will be reconstructed.

The artist said he was saddened that the bridge, dedicated to those illegal immigrants who died in the desert crossing from Mexico, had been the target of hate, rather than, as he intended, prompting rational discussion on the problem of illegal immigration and spurring a solution.

Asked why he chose Tombstone, the birthplace of the Minutemen, founded by Tombstone Tumbleweed editor and publisher Chris Simcox, the artist replied, “It’s the Wild, Wild West.” He said he was unaware the Minutemen had been founded in the “town too tough to die” and the home of the shootout at the O.K. Corral.

He said the bridge was not intended as a political statement, but to highlight the fact that “there’s problem we need to discuss. Anyone, including the Minutemen, is welcome to come and dialogue.”

Jackson said he thought the bridge was “a wonderful idea to bring this situation to light,” but that it caused too many problems.

He said he and his wife were also upset about an invitation to the bridge dedication that promised “free food and wine” to all who attended.

“My wife and I don’t drink and we were concerned about security issues if people arrived thinking we would be serving alcohol,” he said.

Bernstein denied issuing the invitation, saying he thought it was a local resident who took it upon herself to distribute flyers in Arivaca offering free food and wine.

An artist with an international reputation for the controversial and innovative use of materials, Bernstein has created previous memorials, most notably one in New York City near Ground Zero to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and one outside Auschwitz, a monument to those who died in the Holocaust. He lives in Tucson.

Kathy Engle is a freelance writer who lives in Amado. She can be contacted at kdengle@earthlink.net