Alum donates campus bridge

John Streicker '64 has donated funds for a new pedestrian bridge to be built across Washington Road at the southern part of campus.

The bridge, to be named after Streicker, is scheduled for completion in 2010 and will be part of the University's burgeoning science complex. It will link the new chemistry building and the Lewis Library on one side of Washington Road with the Icahn Laboratory and the new psychology and neuroscience buildings across the street.

Streicker, chairman of the Sentinel Real Estate Corp., has said he is making the donation in part to thank the University for the role it has played in his family. His children, Margaret Streicker Porres, Michael Streicker and Elizabeth Streicker, graduated from the University in 1997, 1999 and 2002, respectively.

"Because the University helped bridge two generations in my family, I thought building an actual bridge was a particularly appropriate way to give back," Streicker said in a press release. "I am thrilled to be part of this important project."

"This bridge will serve many purposes," President Tilghman said in a press release. "It will stand as a tangible symbol of the cross-disciplinary collaborations that are central to scientific research and teaching today and facilitate pedestrians' safe navigation of campus. We are tremendously grateful to John Streicker for his thoughtful generosity."

In addition to connecting different parts of what administrators call the University's "science neighborhood," the bridge will facilitate access to campus sports facilities.

The plans for the bridge, which is being designed by Swiss engineer Christian Menn and the HNTB engineering and design company — whose lead engineer, Theodore Zoli, graduated from Princeton in 1988 — were released in April 2005.

The bridge will be about 300 feet long and 23 feet tall at its highest point. The current design for Streicker Bridge is a "curved x-shaped superstructure supported by a single arch," a "glass covered bridge girder creating reflections of light and shadows," according to Menn's website.

Streicker has given several other gifts to the university in the past, including Streicker Walk, which connects the east end of campus to Prospect House.