Footbridge Opening Brings Closure After Boy’s Death

MOORPARK —  Rarely does a humble span of concrete evoke strong emotion. But this bridge over the Arroyo Simi does.

Proud and sturdy, the 161-foot Arroyo Vista Community Park Access Bridge will be dedicated Saturday. It arcs over the arroyo, not far from where 11-year-old Joel Burchfield was swept away during a downpour a year and a half ago.

The $700,000 bridge, which is already in use, eliminates the need for dangerous shortcuts across the arroyo.

With the opening of school just days away, the dedication is coming not a minute too soon, said parent Rob Jacalone, a Burchfield family friend.

“What does that bridge mean to me?” he said through tears. “It means that the sacrifice of my friend’s son was not in vain. We lost a child, and we shouldn’t have. But now, hopefully, we shouldn’t lose any more children.”

The bridge, which connects Arroyo Vista Community Park to a neighborhood north of the drainage stream, was in the city’s plans for a decade, but it became a community rallying cry after the death.

The 15-foot-wide span, with chain-link railings on either side, will not be named after Joel. But it will be dedicated to him by the Conejo Valley Masonic Lodge No. 807.

“I really don’t care what it’s called,” said Joel’s mother, Laura Burchfield. “The whole point of that bridge is that kids can get across safely. . . . [The dedication] is a big deal for us. It doesn’t ease the pain any, but we feel like we got something accomplished.”

In her son’s honor, a 10-inch brass plaque will adorn the bridge, reading: “For all the children who will pass this way. Joel Burchfield,” said Steve Cooley, the former lodge master of the Conejo Valley lodge.

Soon after Joel’s January 1996 death, city leaders pledged to build a span before the next rains came and turned the normally benign arroyo into a treacherous surge of water. But red tape bogged the project. And a winter of rain came and went.

Southern California Edison, which owns the land on the southern end of the arroyo, had planned to develop the property. In January, Edison agreed to allow use of the land after residents repeatedly packed City Council meetings.

“It was a long time coming,” said City Councilwoman Debbie Rodgers Teasley. “The origin of the bridge was to allow access to the park and the high school. But since Joel’s passing, along with it being an extremely functional object, the bridge also has a lot of emotion tied to it. With the dedication, both the practical need and the emotional need for people to have closure will happen.”

People from all walks of life are expected to attend the 10 a.m. dedication--from Joel’s fellow Little Leaguers to city officials, family members and members of the Masonic lodge.

Joel’s grandfather, Tom Waite, believes that the passionate fight to open the bridge has brought residents closer.

“The outpouring from the community of Moorpark has been unbelievable,” he said. “This has really touched everyone. . . . It kind of makes you believe in people again.”

Seeming carefree and looking sunburned as they rode dirt bikes across the bridge this week, several teenage boys commented on its significance.

“You can just zip right across without anything happening,” said Brian Schlatter, 13.

“It’s great,” added 14-year-old Dylan Taylor. “For one thing, it could save our lives. And it’s a shortcut.”