David Marcum has beem directing some excellent films about WV roads and bridges for more than a decade. In 2007, the  WVLC sent a copy of his 2004 film “The Road to Opportunity” about the amazing constructionof the WV Turnpike to every public library in the state. The South Charleston Museum will be premiering locally his new national award winning film, “Bridging History at Blennerhasset Island” along with “The Road to Opportunity” and a short film about the trolley system that once existed in Huntington. Marcum continues to make films about WV’s great bridges and roads and will be releasing a new one this spring. Below is the press release for the event that will take place in March 2010.

(Charleston, WV, December 14, 2009)The South Charleston Museum will show two recent films by David Marcum of the WV Depart of Transportation. The films will be shown on Saturday, March 13th, 2010. Admission is $4.00.  

 About “BRIDGING HISTORY AT BLENNERHASSETT ISLAND2007  40 mins.  WV Dept. of Transportation This film is  a documentary made by David Marcum for the WV Department of Transportation (WVDOT), was selected by the National Transportation Public Affairs Workshop (NTPAW) as the Best Transportation Film of 2009. NTPAW held its annual conference in St. Louis on October 11-14, 2009 and presented awards for the best work done in various categories by communications offices of state transportation departments nationwide. This win for “Bridging History” marks the first time West Virginia has won this national award in any category. The film was written and directed by David Marcum, and tells the history of Blennerhassett Island and the Parkersburg/Marietta region and the great lengths WVDOT engineers, designers and construction crews went to in order to respect the integrity of the historical landmark, while also observing maritime restrictions to build the new Blennerhassett Island Bridge. Mr. Marcum also directed “The Road to Opportunity”(2004, released in )about the building of the WV Turnpike.   

    About “ THE ROAD TO OPPORTUNITY – 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WVTURNPIKE2004 (released 2007) 45 mins. WV Dept. of TransportationThe West Virginia Department of Transportation in association with the West VirginiaParkways, Economic Development & Tourism Authority produced this tribute to thelargest construction project in the history of the state. After being a “road to nowhere,”it became a model for highway construction around the country and world, completingthe link between the Great Lakes and Florida. Vintage documentary footage of theconstruction and opening celebration of the Turnpike are mixed with contemporaryinterviews with WV leaders including Senators Byrd and Rockefeller, many WVgovernors including Okie Patterson who was instrumental in starting the project despitevast obstacles. Classic automobile commercials from the 1950s add some context of theimportance of this highway before the Interstate system began under PresidentEisenhower in 1954. The West Virginia Turnpike is a four-lane toll highway, 88 miles in length, between Princeton and Charleston, West Virginia. The entire length of the Turnpike carries Interstate 77; Interstate 64 is carried from Charleston to south of City of Beckley. Described as “an engineering achievement of heroic proportion,” the Turnpike traverses mountainous terrain that required grades of up to five percent and themovement of 70 million cubic yards of earth. The Turnpike climbs from an elevation of600 feet at Charleston to an elevation of 3400 feet atFlat Top Mountain. The Turnpike has 116 bridges – more than one every mile. Three ofits major bridges were named for native West Virginia military heroes – twoCongressional Medal of Honor winners, Sergeant Cornelius Charlton and SergeantStanley Bender, and one noted aviation pioneer, Brigadier General Charles E. (Chuck)Yeager, the first to penetrate the sound barrier. In addition to providing the traveler withthe most direct route south from the Great Lakes and regions of Canada, the Turnpikecarries Interstate 64 to south of Beckley, where it provides a much needed east-westroute as well. Nature’s vistas – the view from Flat Top Mountain, the Bluestone Gorge,spring’s buds and blossoms and fall’s panoply of color – add aesthetics to the list ofconventional values of economy and time found on the Turnpike. Access: WV DOT -Todd Gambill at 558-9231 or David Marcum at 558-9229. WVLC gave a copy to every WV main public library in summer 2008. The DVD includes the dedication and turnpike progress report from 1954.  

Huntington Trolley – 10 mins.      

  END

 #South Charleston Museum
At the Historic LaBelle Theatre
311 D Street
South Charleston, West Virginia 25303
United States of America
Tel. 304.744.9711 Fax.304.720.3769

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