SHELBURNE FALLS — After being closed for the entire 2020 growing season, the Bridge of Flowers will reopen to the public Tuesday, June 1.
The bridge, which first opened in 1929, had only ever been closed twice before the COVID-19 pandemic. When the public health crisis began in March 2020, Bridge of Flowers Committee members decided not to open the bridge as a health precaution. This March, members said they were not going to be able to meet their regular April 1 opening but were working with local health boards to determine whether and how the popular tourist attraction could open this season.
In an announcement posted to bridgeofflowersmass.org this week, Bridge of Flowers Committee Chair Annette Szpila said the decision to reopen the bridge starting Tuesday had been “entirely guided by the state guidelines regarding COVID-19 and in consultation with local officials,” including members of the Shelburne and Buckland boards of health. A May 26 Facebook post announcing the bridge would open had garnered over 1,200 likes and been shared over 1,000 times by Thursday afternoon.
“We had so many inquiries last year after other botanic gardens had opened and we did not,” Szpila said in the website announcement.
However, she pointed out these other botanic gardens had opened with stringent requirements, including advance reservations, monitoring for wearing masks, social distancing protocols, and even logging names and locations of visitors for contact tracing purposes.
“We are an entirely volunteer operation and had neither the administrative structure nor the paid staff to adhere to such guidelines,” Szpila explained.
Given that health safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state of Massachusetts have been significantly relaxed in recent weeks, Szpila said the Bridge of Flowers can reopen with a degree of safety.
“We celebrate the fact that we can now once again walk the bridge and feel uplifted by the beauty of its gardens, especially after so much loss and sadness over the past year,” Szpila said.
According to the announcement, local restaurants and shops are hailing the reopening as a much-needed economic boost after a very lean year. Each year, the Bridge of Flowers attracts more than 60,000 visitors from nearly every state and countries throughout the world.
CDC guidelines for open-air venues continue to recommend that those who have not been vaccinated should protect themselves and others while in public by wearing a mask, Szpila said.
“And they continue to urge everyone to maintain a 6-foot distance from others as a precaution, even in open-air settings,” she said.
While there will be no COVID-19-related restrictions for visitors on the bridge, Bridge of Flowers Committee members said signs will be placed to remind everyone to use caution on the bridge’s narrow path so as to avoid congestion and allow visitors to maintain distance between themselves and others.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.