of the detailing lost. The original hand railing was made of teak; this was vandalized and the bridge fell into disrepair. In 2005, the City of St. John's and the Bowring Park Foundation released a new master plan, which noted the importance of the footbridge and other bridges in the park:Maintenance of the existing and additional bridges will play an important part in the continued development of the park. The many bridges now in the park demonstrate a variety of approaches to construction - from the very modern to the deliberately quaint. This diversity of forms and materials should be continued. Future development of the park should continue to create notable and well-designed bridge structures. By 2017, the base of the bridge was covered in graffiti and was partially hidden by trees, with the entrance to the bridge from the Bowring Park side consumed by landscaped bushes, hiding aspects of the bridge such as the base and the floating effect of the stairs. Architect Robert Mellin states:“its elegance endures, and it conveys the impression that it has always been there, especially now that the surrounding landscape has matured. But over time it has receded in prominence in the park, and today there is little awareness of its distinguished design history.” In October of 2017, Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary and Councillor Jamie Korab said they were interested in some kind of acknowledgement of the bridge's history. In November, it was announced that engineering students from Memorial University would research and do a structural analysis on the bridge. In November, 2019, the city’s built heritage experts panel recommended heritage designation of the bridge that the city recognize van Ginkel Associates in the statement of significance for their contributions to developing the bridge. In February, 2020, O'Leary spoke again on the historical importance of the structure, recommending designation and suggesting some kind of partnership with Arup Group:I’ve been trying to get it bumped up on the priority list for our rehabilitation for bridges, but unfortunately it’s low on the priority list. But it has such incredible heritage significance, and it’s really a beautiful thing, and I think that as an asset we really need to figure out how to get it restored. In April, 2020, City Council voted unanimously in favour of heritage designation. The City stated that the handrail needed to be replaced, and there were areas of concrete cracking and delamination.