800,000 Mark Its 50th Birthday : Golden Gate Bridge Sways to a New Beat

Drawn by memories of their youth, lured by romance, or simply hoping to be part of history, as many as 800,000 people turned out at dawn and took over the Golden Gate Bridge in celebration of its first half-century.

Perhaps reflecting the affection for the pre-eminent symbol of this city and the West, the crowd that turned out for the Golden anniversary of the majestic span’s opening--which featured a similar, but smaller-scale, bridge walk--exceeded organizers’ predictions by two or three times.

In response, the stately span began to sway under what was believed to be the heaviest load it had ever supported.

After nightfall, with the bay aglow from the lights of thousands of boats, a grand finale of fireworks went off as hundreds of thousands lined the waterfront.

Then, after a moment of silence, Mayor Dianne Feinstein proclaimed “Let the Golden Gate Bridge light the way home,” and, for the first time, the bridge was bathed in permanent lights as another round of fireworks exploded.

But the highlight was the dawn walk, which commemorated the opening on May 27, 1937, when about 200,000 people were allowed to spend the day walking its length. Sunday morning’s throng was so large that when people coming from San Francisco met those from Marin County, they became so packed that they were unable to move for up to 1 1/2 hours. To the amazement of some emergency-response officials, there were no major injuries, though several people had attacks of anxiety, fatigue and illness.

Charlotte Mailliard--the city’s official party giver, who helped plan Sunday’s event--realized the throngs would not wait for VIPs to give speeches, so she canceled the opening ceremonies.

At about 5:30 a.m., 45 minutes before they were supposed to begin, people set out on foot, on skates, in baby strollers, on skateboards, bicycles and stilts. One person rolled across the span on a large ball.

“This kind of gets the juices flowing,” said Gloria Brouillard, a middle-aged woman who, with a friend, Alice Fuller, sipped extra-dry champagne out of plastic glasses shortly after 6 a.m.

Michael de Alba, 3, drove a battery-powered car with his dog, Smokey, in tow in a wagon.

“It’s his birthday,” said his father, Daniel. “What better reason to come out?” Then exhorting the youngster on, the father directed, “Keep your eye on the road, Michael, stop looking at the pretty girls.”

At the height of the human gridlock, a bridge worker, speaking over the span’s public address system, made futile attempts to direct the foot traffic. The only problem was that people could not move.

“I’m trying real hard not to be frightened,” said one participant, Sandra Banks, who was stuck at the center of the bridge for an hour.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t stand this,” said one distraught woman.

An elderly man was helped out of the tight situation by being hoisted over the heads of the people and carried to an open space.

Large numbers of people were drinking alcoholic beverages heavily during the early morning affair, but there were only three arrests during the walk.

Mayor Feinstein had planned to toss a wreath over the side of the bridge in honor of the 11 workers who died during the construction. But seeing that the crowd was too tightly packed to pay attention to such a ceremony, she whimsically took Assembly Speaker Willie Brown’s black golf cap, which had the word Ferrari written on it, and tossed it into the bay.

“There is absolute gridlock on the center of the bridge. Is there any way of getting some help down here?” the mayor asked aides. When it became apparent that help was not forthcoming, she got behind a human wedge created by her staff and left.

James Bronkema, chairman of the ceremony, said party organizers concluded weeks ago that there would be no way to control the crowd. But then he did not think the crowd would grow so large that a leisurely stroll across the bridge would be futile.

Returning From War

“It just shows how much people love this bridge” that so many would turn out, said Bronkema who, like many World War II veterans, remembers the bridge as his first sight of America upon his return from the war in the Pacific.

For many of the walkers, reminiscence brought them back.

“It brings back part of my youth. It makes me feel like I accomplished something,” said John Hodson, who was 26 when he worked at a Roebling, N.J., steel mill making the wire that was spun into cables that went on the bridge. “It’s something I can’t quite describe,” he said of his feelings at the moment.

“I didn’t get the chance (to walk across) when it was built,” said Leonard S. Walsh, 83, wearing an overcoat and tie, who walked with the aid of a cane. He recalled shaking hands with Joseph Strauss, the engineer who designed it. “I don’t think I have another chance.”

Lt. Val Daniels of the California Highway Patrol estimated that 750,000 people made the walk. Later in the day, the CHP estimate increased to 800,000. Terry Sellards, chief executive officer of the committee responsible for the party, noted that the majestic bridge is only 8,000 feet long and 80 feet wide, and said that at most 300,000 could have squeezed onto it.

“The thing worked because of the crowd. A different kind of crowd, a different event, could have been a problem,” Sellards said.

Colorful Analogy

“It was like putting 10 pounds of sugar into a five-pound can,” Police Chief Frank Jordan of San Francisco said.

“It was ridiculous. Elbows. People almost got knocked over,” said Vincent Soto, 14.

“I’m glad it will be another 50 years before they do it again,” his uncle, David Soto, added.

The bridge actually swayed from side to side under the weight of the throngs and winds of 30 to 40 m.p.h. Some of the people who remained on either end of the span could see it swing several feet.

“According to our chief engineer, Ben Mohn, the swaying was the result of a lot of unequal weight on the bridge,” Bruce Selby, spokesman for the Golden Gate Bridge District, told United Press International.

“He was concerned enough that he went out on the bridge to check it out. But he said that people weren’t in any danger. He estimates that this is the heaviest load that there ever was on the bridge.”

The historic structure, which has accommodated more than 1 billion cars since 1937, easily withstood Sunday’s onslaught of pedestrians.

Motorists and strollers notwithstanding, the bridge was also made for romance.

Jeff Rodriguez, still wearing his tuxedo from his senior prom the night before, walked arm-in-arm with Charlene Sugawana, in her formal.

“Everyone thinks we got married. We didn’t,” Rodriguez said. Then he turned to Sugawana and said, quietly, “Not yet.”

On the Marin side, Jocelyne Allard, her daughter, Nicole, 22, and a few of their friends spread out a blanket and helped themselves to a continental breakfast of coffee, fruit salad and croissants.

“I think it’s marvelous,” said Allard, 52, who with her entourage gave up on the overloaded bus system and walked to the bridge from Mill Valley. Thousands of others were turned away because they could not find public transportation to get them to the span on time.

The bridge was supposed to have been reopened to vehicular traffic by 9:30 a.m. But with the crowd as large as it was, it remained shut until 12:15 p.m. and within five minutes, it had the first car traffic jam of its second 50 years.

Nearby Celebration

At nearby Crissy Field, at Feinstein’s behest, there was a family style carnival, complete with a Haunted Mansion, stuffed animals and such rides as the Zipper.

A chain restaurant set up a fast-food outlet for the affair, while various San Francisco restaurateurs sold everything from pizza and chocolate chip cookies to sushi and Indian and Brazilian fare. A manufacturer donated 72,000 bars of soap, which were layed out in the shape of a large whale.

In addition to a parade of antique cars, vintage planes and aerobatics by Air Force jets, there was a regatta, including two Coast Guard cutters, two Navy minesweepers, San Francisco fireboats, and, the centerpiece, the Californian, the official state tall ship. Although the ship parade was impressive, many of the smaller craft furled their sails and headed back to their marinas because of choppy, three-foot seas.

After Sunday night’s official throwing of the switch, the bridge’s 746-foot towers will be lit every night by four dozen 400-watt sodium lamps.

During the evening, singer Tony Bennett of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”-fame, the San Francisco Symphony, and others performed at a free concert.

The fireworks show, touted as the largest ever on the West Coast, included hundreds of skyrockets launched from a dozen barges in the bay.

Fifty years ago, the “City That Knows How” truly did.

Weeklong Celebration

Then, the events were spread over a week to mark the opening of the “Bridge That Couldn’t Be Built.”

On May 27, 200,000 people forgot the Depression and played on the span. At noon the next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signaled by gold-key telegraph that the bridge was open for traffic. The Golden Gate then was the longest single-span suspension bridge, but since has been eclipsed by the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York.

President Reagan sent a telegram Sunday hailing the bridge’s strength and beauty and remarking that it “somehow reminds us of America.”

The 50th-anniversary affair was mired in controversy during the year it was being planned. The event was scaled down from a $22-million affair--the span cost $35 million to build--that was supposed to rival the Statue of Liberty Weekend. It turned out to cost between $4 million and $5 million, counting cash and donated work and entertainment.