Sundial Bridge
The story of the Sundial Bridge began with a citizens' committee given the charge of selecting an engineer to design a bridge to span the north and south sides of the Sacramento River, linking the Turtle Bay campus with the Arboretum site. The committee, on which McConnell Foundation Vice President John Mancasola served, interviewed four bridge designers, but ended without consensus. Impressed with the designs he saw in a book of Santiago Calatrava's work, John phoned the architect's office in Zurich, Switzerland. To his surprise, Calatrava himself answered the phone. This phone call resulted in a visit to Redding by Calatrava, who loved the terrain, commenting that it reminded him of his native city – Valencia, Spain. Calatrava is identified worldwide with the design of bridges. The Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay was his first free-standing bridge in North America, as well as his first steel, inclined-pylon, cable-stayed bridge in the United States. Funding for construction of the bridge was provided largely by the Foundation. Additional funders were the City of Redding, state and federal government, and Turtle Bay. Upon completion, the bridge was gifted to the City of Redding. The McConnell Foundation funded a 27-minute documentary, Angle of Inspiration, which premiered on July 3, 2004 at the newly restored Cascade Theatre in downtown Redding. The bridge had its grand opening the next day, July 4. Angle of Inspiration documented the process of envisioning and building the bridge without shying away from the controversy it generated in the community. The film has been shown on public television stations and has been warmly received at film festivals across the nation.
