Park district, partners fixing up covered bridge

BALLVILLE TOWNSHIP – The Mull Covered Bridge is getting a major makeover, and the Sandusky County Park District hopes work on the iconic landmark will be completed by early July.

Andrew Brown, the park district’s director, said the 164 year-old structure, the only covered bridge remaining in the county, is getting a new roof and siding, with the bridge’s beams being replaced.

Brown said the bridge’s pillars will be raised during the refurbishment with barriers installed to reduce moisture that has rotted out some of the structure’s support beams.

“Everything that can be saved will be saved,” Brown said.

About 80 percent of the $330,000 project is being funded by an Ohio Department of Transportation grant, Brown said.

He said the park district, which is working with Ballville Township and the county on the project, contributed $20,000 in matching funds. The county engineer’s office is serving as the manager for the project.

Brown said the planning for the project started in 2013.

According to the park district, the bridge, which is a “town lattice” truss type, was built in 1851 by the Henry Mull Family to allow for safe access for trade to the Mull mill.

In 1974, the Mull Covered Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of the last remaining covered bridges in northwestern Ohio.

Peggy Courtney, executive director of the Sandusky County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said there is still a lot of interest shown about Mull, with visitors stopping into the bureau’s office in recent weeks and inquiring about the covered bridge.

“People will say, ‘Where is that?’ ” Courtney said.

She said the bridge is included in a bureau marketing video on its website that spotlights area cultural and historical attractions.

Brown said the park district had tentative plans to celebrate the bridge’s improvements and will schedule a ceremony closer to the project’s completion.

Workers from Defiance’s R.G. Zachrich Construction Inc. battled the high winds Tuesday to install a new beam on the bridge, which still has its roof intact but has had its siding removed.

The bridge crosses the east branch of Wolf Creek.

dacarson@gannett.com

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