One of Wichita’s most-beloved bridges is getting a facelift — and stopping traffic

Riverside’s 1932 Minisa Bridge, a favorite of Wichitans across the city, is getting another facelift.

This one won’t be nearly as extensive as the 2008 renovation. That was more of a complete overhaul of the Pueblo Deco bridge, which features buffalo and Indian figures, some of which now need attention.

Starting Monday, the bridge will close and remain closed likely until mid-September, depending on the weather.

The city’s goal is to open the pedestrian portion of the bridge in time for the school year. Interior lanes likely will open after that, followed by the exterior lanes a bit later.

Though the bridge is on a popular thoroughfare along 13th Street next to North High School, Riverside resident Susie Cunningham noted that the closure shouldn’t cause too many issues since there are other bridges nearby on 11th and 18th streets.

“I don’t think it’s going to be as hard as people think.”

Cunningham is president of the Little Arkansas Community Coalition, a group that helped get the bridge listed on the National Register of Historic Places earlier this year so it can qualify for more grant money in the future.

Construction will cost not quite $1.3 million and will be paid for through local sales taxes.

City engineer Paul Gunzelman said Wichita has about 260 bridges, and its capital improvement program provides for each of the bridges to be inspected every other year.

“Quite honestly, our bridges are in pretty good shape,” he said.

For some time, the city has been planning various repairs to the Minisa Bridge.

That includes fixing the driving lanes where brick surfaces have become depressed or damaged.

The bricks have sand under them and then a layer of concrete. Gunzelman said some of the sand has shifted, causing depressions. In other cases, damaged bricks may be replaced.

Also, the structure of the bridge needs to be tuckpointed, meaning some of its mortar needs replacing.

Some cast-stone elements also need to be repaired or replaced as does some of the decorative Carthalite on the bridge.

Carthalite is an architectural element unique to Wichita that mixes colorful broken glass with aggregates and cement to create motifs on buildings and, in this sole case, the bridge. It’s also part of North High’s architecture, which is why it was chosen for the bridge as well.

When the bridge was built and then when it was restored in 2008, the public was invited to donate glass for the project. Gunzelman said it’s not needed this time around.

The city also is putting anti-graffiti coating on the bridge to make cleaning up frequent tagging a little easier.

There’s some retaining wall repair work that needs to be done as well.

Cunningham, who has been keeping tabs on what’s happening with the bridge and the city’s plan to update it, said she’s especially excited about the repairs.

“I think it’s a pretty thoughtful plan.”