A bridge over the West Branch of the DuPage River used to lead to a religious retreat house run by the Cenacle Sisters near Warrenville.
The woodsy retreat grounds invited visitors to reflect and commune with nature. Though the center was demolished years ago, the Cenacle bridge is still in use as part of a trail system within the Blackwell Forest Preserve.
“I think that pictures don’t do it justice. When you’re there in person,” DuPage County Forest Preserve Commissioner Jeff Gahris said, it’s a “cool-looking bridge.”
But on closer inspection, the bridge is looking tired and rickety. “Caution Rough Bridge,” reads a sign posted among goldenrods. There are plans to replace the bridge in the southwest corner of Blackwell.
Forest preserve commissioners saw images of the rotting structural timber and other issues during a planning session this week. Officials intend to pursue grant funding through the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program to install a new bridge.
Spanning the river, the 115-foot-long structure features white X handrails and field stone masonry.
The district’s engineering consultant, H.W. Lochner, Inc., completed a preliminary bridge study report in 2021. At the time, a repair option was estimated to be about half the cost of replacing it.
The project was released for bid in the spring of this year, but the prices were much higher than estimated.
A sign is posted near the Cenacle bridge on a pedestrian and bicyclist trail near Warrenville.
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The district received two bids — one for $1.2 million and the other for $1.4 million, said Chris Welch, a civil engineer for the district.
After rejecting the bids, the district reached out to contractors about the pricing. In discussions with bidders, there were concerns with rehabilitating the bridge due to its age, unknown construction and condition, according to a board memo.
“They both noted that they believe the full replacement would be cheaper,” Welch told commissioners.
The project has already been allocated $300,000 in federal money and $250,000 in Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity funding.
Gahris asked if the stone columns could be rebuilt as an acknowledgment of the history of the site — as “a favor to the residents of Warrenville because it might mean something to them.”
Welch suggested that there are options and offered examples.
“If you look at the County Farm Road bridge, we put a field stone ‘stamp,’ for lack of a better term, on those piers,” he said.
The Cenacle campus hosted retreats for decades. The Catholic sisters agreed to sell the 42-acre property to the district in 2008.
“That’s part of Warrenville’s history,” Gahris said, “as well as ours.”