Gary Pirkle is a fine soccer park located off Suwanee Dam Road that drew my attention not for its beautifully maintained 67 acres of land, or its sports fields, or its giant playground under a 90' solar powered shelter pavilion, or its Community Garden & Activity Barn. It attracted me because of my deep love for bridges, covered bridges to be exact.
The covered bridge is roughly 43 feet long from post to post and crosses Richland Creek. It is located along the yellow trail directly between the two largest soccer fields in the park, both of which feature synthetic grass turfs. Although the bridge itself uses a simple king post design, the craftsman details make this one of the most attractive covered bridges I've ever seen... and I've seen a lot!
For example, the roof is wrapped in copper sheathing, the paint stain is an attractive faint greenish-gray, all the overhead beams are scalloped on the ends and the railing itself has cutaways of trees every foot and a half or so. I've reviewed every historic bridge in Georgia, so I was delighted to discover this newer addition built in 2009 (slightly before the park opened in March of 2010).
FINDING THE BRIDGE
I was in the area attending a reunion BBQ with my Mission Trip team from my December 2016 trip to Kenya. It was the first time we've all been together since returning home from our experience in a Maasai village 5 hours north of Nairobi. The girl who hosted the BBQ is a marathon runner and runs in Gary Pirkle park often. It is literally seconds from her subdivision, but she had no idea there was a covered bridge within the park.
When I turned onto Austin Garner Rd while driving to the parking area, I saw two ladies having a conversation just outside the community garden. I stopped to ask if they knew the best place to park to see the covered bridge but neither was aware it existed.
Once I'd parked, I asked a few soccer teens how well they knew the park, to which they replied "very", but none new the location of the bridge. I gotta admit I felt like a total nerd at that moment with my strange desire to come here to see a covered bridge, but once I found it, those feelings were replaced with a calm joy.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I simply can't explain why I love them, but I do and I can't tell you exactly why this particular one brought me an immediate sense of tranquility (even though I was surrounded by excited youth, yelling coaches and soccer moms), but it did. If you are a covered bridge lover, the bridge here @ Gary Pirkle Park will absolutely delight your senses.
2017/83 read more