The Town Lake Pedestrian Bridge has a new name. The Tempe City Council dedicated the bridge to the man whose passion led to the creation of Tempe Town Lake, James Elmore, ASU’s founding Dean of Architecture.  

The dedication coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the ASU College of Architecture project that resulted in the Rio Salado Project, the predecessor to Tempe Town Lake.  A series of interpretative plaques explaining the history of the Rio Salado Project and Tempe Town Lake will be installed to the west of the bridge, along with a dedication plaque to Elmore. Plaques are being donated by Gretchen Wilder.

“James Elmore was a champion of Tempe Town Lake for more than 40 years, from encouraging the College of Architecture to take on the Salt River as a project to bringing the student ideas to those who could make them reality,” said David Scheatzle, a Professor Emeritus for the ASU College of Architecture. “Associating his name with the beautiful pedestrian bridge at the west end of the Tempe Town Lake seems most appropriate for someone so dedicated to this vision.”