Kansas man's dream to see Golden Gate comes true ON SAN FRANCISCO

MULVANE, KS - MAY 21, 2012 Larry and Barbara Richardson have a replica Golden Gate Bridge on their property in Mulvane, KS. The suspension bridge was built by Larry, his brother and his father over a 7-8 year time span. The group started the project in 1994 and finished it up in August 2001. They poured all the concrete they needed by themselves with bags of concrete. Larry said he got the timbers for the bridge for free and the cables too. Larry bought a postcard of the Golden Gate Bridge while in California briefly while shipping out to Vietnam in 1968 while in the Army. That postcard he kept all those years and used it as the guide for how he would build his replica bridge. He did no engineering for the project he just looked at the picture and figured out how to make it work. His bridge crosses the small Cowskin Creek and he can now access a small section of his land that he wasn't able to before. Larry painted his bridge a gold color, unlike the original Golden Gate Bridge. He says he has to buy the paint from a local hardware store and they only sell it in pint containers. He has painted the bridge twice, every time with a 1 inch trim brush. less MULVANE, KS - MAY 21, 2012 Larry and Barbara Richardson have a replica Golden Gate Bridge on their property in Mulvane, KS. The suspension bridge was built by Larry, his brother and his father over a 7-8 ... more Photo: Steve Hebert Photo: Steve Hebert Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Kansas man's dream to see Golden Gate comes true 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Last week's column about Larry Richardson, the Mulvane, Kan., man who built a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, produced a spate of e-mails from readers. They were touched that Richardson had never actually seen the bridge.

"Couldn't we get Richardson and his wife out to San Francisco?" they asked.

Of course we can. They are arriving on Monday.

Donors stepped up, un-asked, to make the trip possible. Jon Handlery of the Handlery Union Square Hotel called to offer a free room, and everyday folks from the Bay Area wrote with contributions.

And just that quickly it was done.

"If politics in this city worked as effectively as we did, we'd be in pretty good shape," said Brian Morton, among the first to offer.

It should be quite a trip for the couple. Larry says he hasn't been on an airplane since his trip to Vietnam and back as a "scared 19-year-old" 43 years ago. His wife, Barbara, he says, "has never been on a jet plane," and neither has ever ridden in a taxi.

The story began in the dead of night in February 1969, when Larry was on a troop bus on his way to deployment. Jolted awake, he caught a glimpse of one of the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. The image stuck with the kid from Kansas, who was headed for the exotic world of the Mekong Delta.

"Jungles and swamps. Rice paddies," he said. "The Golden Gate Bridge was one of the last major things I saw from the states for a long time. It was home, you know."

That part of his story struck a chord with San Francisco reader Valerie Pinkert.

"My dad was in World War II, and I remember him telling us he went through the Golden Gate on his way and wondered if he'd ever come back to see it," she said.

Arlene and Bill Houghton of Sebastopol wondered whether Vietnam veterans groups might be interested in helping make his dream come true.

"As the generation who also came through the Vietnam War (my husband was a conscientious objector) we really felt strongly about one of the last things he had seen before he shipped out," they wrote.

Although Richardson, 63, says he built his bridge on his farm on a whim, this is no coffee-table model. It is 150 feet long and wide enough to fit an automobile. He used 97 1/2 tons of concrete, which he hand-mixed in a wheelbarrow. Progress was slow because he kept wearing out the hoes he used to turn the mixture.

"I just loved that he somehow kept his foggy dream," said reader Hiroko Jones. "I just want to see his smiling face."

In all, it took 11 years, cost $4,000 and was finished in 2002, making it just 10 years old compared with the Golden Gate's 75.

Pretty good for someone whose only model was an old postcard photo.

It is that kind of endearing, down-to-earth detail that moved readers.

"I grew up in the Midwest," said Lorie Rood. "I swear those people are just like dozens of my relatives."

"They just seem like such sweet people," Pinkert said. "If I ever get to Kansas, I will go see their bridge."

First things first. Next week, Larry and Barbara arrive - they've already been warned to bring a jacket in case of fog - and will finally see the full-scale version.

"May 23rd was our 43rd wedding anniversary," he said. "And I've always said one of these days we're going to get out there."

So welcome to San Francisco. It should be quite an experience.

"I think it will be the largest city we've ever spent the night," Larry said.

What's the previous largest?

"Wichita," he said.

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