Sierra Madre : Pergola to Rise Again

The pergola outside City Hall, dismantled last year because of dry rot, will rise again under a $62,500 construction plan that will reassemble the structure using tubular steel beams with a simulated wood veneer. The City Council on Tuesday approved the idea and directed the city engineer to seek bids.

The wisteria-draped pergola, or arbor, was erected 10 years ago outside City Hall at 232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. The vines’ dampness eventually weakened the structure’s wood crossbeams.

After one section of the pergola collapsed last year, the rest of the structure was examined and found to be unsafe. For most of last year, only the base of the arbor remained outside City Hall, its block posts topped with bits of steel wire and plates stretching upward into the empty air where the vine-covered pergola once arched.