According to The Daily News from December 18, 1958, a report commissioned by the City of St. John’s on the future of the park notes that the park had “unlimited possibilities for becoming one of the most beautiful parks in Canada.” It underwent redevelopment and expansion in the 1950s. In 1958, the City commissioned the highly recommended Montreal architect firm, Van Ginkel Associates, to work on a new development plan that included active and passive uses with new amenities such as: a swimming pool, boating pond, playground, tennis courts, pedestrian bridge and road bridge. Van Ginkel Associates were invited by Joey Smallwood, Newfoundland’s premier from 1949-1972, to work on two planning projects in Newfoundland. Blanche notes:“Smallwood was full of development ideas. I do remember that once he found me, to my great surprise, when I was briefly visiting Winnipeg, to offer us a project – and I think that it was about Fermeuse – or perhaps it was about the St. John’s satellite...”As funding became available from the Canadian National Railway (CNR), Van Ginkel Associates, along with the structural engineering consultant Ove Arup, designed and constructed the pedestrian and road bridges to cross the railroad tracks running south of the park. Blanche Lemco Van Ginkel had worked with Ove Arup on other projects and Van Ginkel Associates had recommended Arup to the City of St. John’s. Van Ginkel’s view toward long-term goals of renewability and sustainability and the hopes of returning humanity to the human body's interaction within the urban landscape is reflected in her design of the Bowring Park footbridge in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. The Van Ginkel’s did not apply any particular theories to the design of Bowing Park. Theories of their own can be seen through the introduction of urbanicity to the park. Blanche had also previously developed her own modernist theories of urban aesthetics while working with the Team Ten. Tenders for construction were published in August of 1960. The contract was given to McNamara Construction of Newfoundland Limited and work was underway by the end of 1960. The bridge was completed in 1962 and Blanche was awarded the Massey Medal for the bridge’s design in 1964. Original drawings refer to the structure simply as "Footbridge"; later researchers such as Mellin and Richter refer to it as the "Van Ginkel Footbridge." Designation and conservation Forty years after its construction, the bridge’s form remained with some