Fountain Lake has always been a scenic and recreational asset for the people of Albert Lea, and also an obvious obstacle for the efficient movement of vehicular traffic. The alternative has always been to go around the ends of the lake. Yet, why go around the lake to get from one side to the other when a bridge across this water barrier would provide a shortcut for local commuters?

Maybe these thoughts inspired this editorial in the May 12, 1947, edition of the Tribune:

&uot;City Planner I. S. Shattuck keeps a file of all ideas submitted to him by Albert Lea residents. Some of the ideas are fantastic; some are plausible. Each one gets careful consideration; none goes into the wastebasket.

&uot;There’s only one in his file proposing the construction of a bridge across Fountain Lake from the north end of Broadway to the municipal bathing beach. We understand it’s an idea that’s been talked about off and on for years.

&uot;Had Albert Lea prepared a master plan 10 or 12 years ago, and had that plan indicated the desirability of such a bridge, chances are the bridge would be there today. The chance to realize it, at low cost, came when the dredging of Fountain Lake was decided upon. Dirt from the lake bottom could have been used for embankments.

&uot;However, it still has not been established whether such a bridge is needed or even desirable, and we don’t intend to decide it here.&uot;

The concept of a bridge across Fountain Lake was officially presented to the Albert Lea City Council in 1948 as just one part of the master plan prepared by Shattuck, a planning and traffic consultant from Wayzata.

Shattuck proposed that Elizabeth Avenue should become a major thoroughfare and the southern approach for a new bridge across Fountain Lake. The northern portion would connect with North Shore and Lakewood Avenues to become part of a long-range system of improved highways around the city.

The Elizabeth Avenue Bridge became a very obvious feature on several maps that Shattuck included in his master plan for the City of Albert Lea.

In 1948, Elizabeth Avenue was four blocks long and ran north and south from East Pearl Street to Clark Street. Between the end of Elizabeth Avenue and Fountain Lake, on the north side of Clark Street, were two buildings. One was the parochial school belonging to St. Theodore’s Catholic Church. (This building was later torn down and replaced with the present parish house.) The other, much larger, structure was known as the American Gas building, which later became the quarters for a car dealership. (The City Center now occupies the site.)

Shattuck’s proposal didn’t indicate what was supposed to happen to these buildings, but his maps indicated one of the structures would have to be demolished to provide space for the southern approach to the bridge.

On the north shore of the lake, the bridge would have connected with North Shore Avenue approximately where the present parking lot for the city beach is located.

Some longtime residents who recall the bridge proposal have suggested that it would be of the pontoon type, or a long span across the lake with a possible pier in the center. Shattuck actually had a different concept. In his presentation to the city council, he wrote, “‘Fill for the recommended thoroughfare across Fountain Lake – with the appropriate opening for a bridge in the center – should be programmed as a part of a future lake dredging operation. ”

There’s no indication in Shattuck’s master plan as to the estimated cost of the proposed bridge across Fountain Lake.

Many of Shattuck’s proposals made in 1948 were never accepted by the city council or the voters of Albert Lea. And one of the most obvious is the now nearly forgotten Elizabeth Avenue Bridge.

Incidentally, a full copy of the 1948 master plan for the city is now part of the historical file at the Albert Lea Public Library.

Tribune feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears Fridays in the Tribune.