If you want to get technical, you can talk about abutments, piers and pony trusses. Or you can point out that problems with scaling and spalling (which refer to defects in concrete) had weakened the structure so badly that, in the words of one advocate, “It was in danger of falling into the river.”

But if you want to get poetic — and there’s something about this emerald-green span that prompts flights of fancy — you can say that one of London’s hidden gems has finally been re-polished and restored to its former glory.

After a city-financed $1.9 million repair and renovation process, the 103-year-old Meadowlily Footbridge will be officially reopened to pedestrians and cyclists Saturday.

“You would be shocked,” says Gary Smith, president of Friends of Meadowlily Woods. “It does not seem like the same bridge at all.”

He’s referring to how the bridge, closed to vehicular traffic in 1965, has looked in recent years

Before repairs, the bridge — which crosses the south branch of the Thames River along Meadowlily Rd. south, just north of Commissioners Rd. — was enclosed by chain-link fence and covered with graffiti. But after repairs by McLean Taylor Construction of St. Marys and Sarnia-based Ross Steel, the bridge is now a practical link to the other side of the Thames, and a beautiful link to London’s past.

“I spent five years trying to convince people there’s more to this bridge than they realized,” says Smith. “I think it was ignored a bit.”

With a superstructure erected by the Hamilton Bridge Company and a substructure built by local contractor Isaac Crouse, the bridge, which opened in 1911, was a crucial connection for residents travelling between the townships of Westminster and London, and provided a path for farmers to the nearby Meadowlily Mill.

And while it has never enjoyed the sort of high-profile enjoyed by Blackfriars Bridge in central London, the Meadowlily span is a graceful example of an era when steel began to be used extensively in Ontario bridges.

Much of the credit for the bridge and its surroundings must go to the Friends of Meadowlily Woods, a non-profit volunteer group with about 50 members that was formed in 2008 in direct response to a proposal by retail developer Smart Centres to build a mega-box shopping complex nearby.

After strong public opposition, Smart Centres withdrew its plan.

And in recognition of that work, along with its protection of the area’s natural and heritage aspects (including remnants of a 19th-century flour mill and evidence of early First Nations activity), the Friends of Meadowlily Woods were last week awarded the Margaret and Nicholas Hill Cultural Heritage Landscape Award by the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.

“The impetus for saving our heritage often comes from amateurs,” says Elizabeth Quance, branch co-ordinator with the Toronto-based conservancy. “It’s grassroots efforts that lead to our history being saved.”

In addition to its heritage features, the 135-hectares of Meadowlily Woods has been designated an Environmentally Significant Area. It’s home to more than 350 types of plants, 34 species of fish and nine freshwater mussels, of which four are listed as species at risk.

“We deceive ourselves by thinking that it’s our responsibility to save areas like this,” says Smith. “In fact, the areas save us. London needs places to walk and hike and enjoy. (But) I’ve never had to sell that — it sells itself.”

Ian Gillespie is the Free Press city columnist.

ian.gillespie@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/IanatLFPress

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IF YOU GO

What: Meadowlily Bridge reopening celebration

When: Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where:Meadowlily St. south (access from Commissioners Rd., just east of Highbury Ave.)