Cowen Park Bridge

{{Short description|Bridge in Seattle, Washington, US}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox bridge

| bridge_name = Cowen Park Bridge

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| image = Cowen Park Bridge 01 - colormapped.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| alt = An art deco styled concrete bridge over a wooded ravine

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| engineering = Clark Eldridge

| design = Deck Arch

| material = Concrete

| length ={{Convert|358|ft|abbr=on}}

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| open = 1936

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| heritage = National Register of Historic Places, Seattle city landmark

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| coordinates = {{Coord|47.67332|-122.31194|type:landmark_region:US-WA|display=inline,title}}

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{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Cowen Park Bridge

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| designated_other1 = Seattle Landmark

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| location = Seattle, Washington

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| built = 1936

| architect = Clark H. Eldridge and A.J. Mahoney

| architecture = Art Deco

| added = July 26, 1982

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| refnum = 82004233

| mpsub = Historic Bridges/Tunnels in Washington State TR

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The Cowen Park Bridge is a reinforced concrete arch bridge in Seattle, Washington. The bridge has a length of {{convert|358|ft|m}} and carries 15th Avenue NE across a ravine in the Cowen Park. The bridges acts as a dividing line in the Ravenna-Cowen Park contiguous area, with the smaller area west of the bridge deemed Cowen Park and the larger area east of the bridge considered Ravenna Park. The bridge, which spans from NE 62nd Street to Cowen Place NE, connects the northern Roosevelt/Ravenna neighborhood with the beginning of the University District. The Cowen Park Bridge is one of two bridges that span the Ravenna Park ravine (the other being the 20th Avenue NE Bridge built in 1913) but is the only one open to vehicular traffic.

The bridge was built in 1936 under the authority of the Works Progress Administration. The bridge engineer was Clark Eldridge.{{cite web|url=http://www.historyink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3132|title=WPA builds Cowen Park Bridge in Seattle's Ravenna neighborhood in 1936.|last=Long|first=Priscilla|date=March 24, 2001|work=HistoryLink|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314131828/http://www.historyink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3132|archive-date=March 14, 2012|accessdate=2011-03-25}} The structure is listed in the National Register of Historic Places,{{cite book|title=National Register of Historic Places; Annual Listing of Historic Properties (Part II)|date=March 1, 1983|publisher=National Park Service|page=8669|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/listings/Weekly_List_FR-March-1-1983-listingyear1982.pdf|access-date=March 25, 2011|archive-date=November 3, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103001017/http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/listings/Weekly_List_FR-March-1-1983-listingyear1982.pdf|url-status=dead}} and it is a designated city landmark.{{cite web|title=Individual Landmarks|url=http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/c.htm|publisher=City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods|accessdate=March 25, 2011|archive-date=April 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405043046/http://www4.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/c.htm|url-status=dead}} The bridge has been praised for the {{convert|12|ft|adj=on|abbr=on}} Art Deco light standards along its sides.{{cite book|last=Kreisman|first=Lawrence|title=Made To Last: Historic Preservation in Seattle and King County|year=1999|publisher=Historic Seattle Preservation Foundation in association with the University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-97846-8|page=69}}

File:Street Level Cowen Park Bridge, Seattle.jpg|A street-level view of 15th Avenue NE as it continues along the Cowen Park Bridge.

File:Art Deco on Cowen Park Bridge.JPG|A close-up of one of the Art Deco light standards on the Cowen Park Bridge.