Square Pink Marshmallows: Times They are a-Changin (in Gettysburg)

Times they are a-changing. Where is that from? Is it a song? Just an expression? I'm not sure. Of course, I had to look it up. It's a Bob Dylan song of course! It's from 1964 and is called "The Times They are a-Changin.'" Here's the last verse:

The line, it is drawn, the curse, it is cast
The slow one will later be fast
And the present now will soon be the past
The order is rapidly fading
The first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a changing.

Peter, Paul and Mary sang it too-- in 1966. Oh my.

Anyway, I'm here to talk about Gettysburg today. My son has been away from Pennsylvania for over a year now. I've been taking pictures of some of the changes around town so he won't be too shocked when he comes home. Because "the present now will soon be the past" etc., etc.

So, let's see. I should have "before" pictures of stuff for those of you who aren't from around here, but this is mainly for my boy, so here goes:

First of all, apparently Pennsylvania is making a huge effort to replace all their ailing bridges. We have had a spate of bridge closures over the past couple of years. They've been working on this one on the Fairfield Road since... last spring? One lane of traffic can still go across-- they've installed a temporary light there.

And while they're at it, at the same intersection they've closed that end of Breams Hill! I always hated riding my bike up there anyway. I think this may be a permanent closure, but I'm not really sure. You have to go up the road and come in from the other side now.

Then there's the bridge over Rock Creek on Rt. 116 at the other side of town. That one was completely closed for many many months, but now is beautifully finished and open to traffic once again.

Closer to our house, there's a bridge which some people call the John Eisenhower Bridge. John was the son of Dwight D. and Mamie Eisenhower, whose farm is next door the location of the bridge. John had a home between his parent's Gettysburg farm and Willoughby Run which the bridge spans. However, when our kids were little, and the bridge was still open to traffic, our son named it "The Lightning Bridge." I'm not sure if it was because the structure of it looked like lightning to him, or because it rumbled like thunder when we drove over it. In any case, it will always be The Lightning Bridge to us.

The Lightning Bridge was closed to traffic in the early 1990s when a new access road was installed nearby. Then, in 1996, the bridge was lifted completely off its foundation during a major flood. It was rebuilt using most of its original parts a couple of years later. Last spring enough of the floor boards had rotted completely through that the powers-that-be completely closed the bridge to pedestrian/bike/horse traffic (except for those people who constantly broke through the plastic mesh meant to keep them out). We are delighted that they are finally working on it, replacing boards so it can be re-opened.

This is how it looked all summer and fall until recently.

New floorboards!

The boards they have removed make pretty good seesaws I have found.

And... I don't have pictures, but the bridge over Belmont Road has been re-opened after lo these many years of closure.

Besides the bridges, they are also putting in a walking path at the seminary, snaking it through the lawn on the hill where people like to sled. I keep forgetting to take pictures of that too. Along with some kind of new markers they put up at the rec park fitness trail-- they have murals on them. If I ever get them photographed, I'll add the pictures in here.

Another major event was the demolition and rebuilding of the McDonald's on Steinwehr Ave. The old building was built in 1974 (I think that's what the Gburg Times said, anyways). In the course of a few short weeks, they had cleared the old structure completely away and built a whole brand-spankin-new building in its place. It's quite trendy now. TVs, cute little stools...

Katie and I had lunch there to test the new facilities. Brand new digital menu boards and they don't list their salads anywhere? Strange.

Cute seating area, but doesn't seem to be any more spacious than before.

The other major demolition project around town was Keefauver Elementary School. Keefauver was built in the late 1950s. My husband attended there, as did all three of my kids. My husband's grandmother even worked in the cafeteria. We have very fond memories. It used to be a K-6 building. Then K-3. Then they closed it... very sad to us. At least they waited til all three of the kids were done. Then it was used by various other groups until this summer. The school district has decided they need to demolish the Middle School and rebuild a new one, using the land Keefauver was on for a parking lot or some such thing.

Demolition has begun.

This was from this past summer.

This is now. Zero buildings.

This is the view from the back of Keefauver-- in other words, this is where Field Day used to be held.

Also, the sledding hill. It's gone.

And Lincoln Elementary next door? That was the High School when my husband attended. My son didn't go there at all. My girls went there when it was newly renovated into a 4-5 building. Now it's a K-5 building, but they are tearing up the play area-- something to do with the whole Middle School project, I'm sure.