Bridge Name Campaign Ended in 2015

A failed 2015 fundraising effort to rename a Portland bridge has returned to public attention following the death of the actor behind the character proposed for the name.

Owen Lingley, then a 36-year-old business owner, started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for billboards promoting the name Jean-Luc Picard Wunder Crossing. He did not ask TriMet to change the bridge's official designation. The goal was to raise $5,000 to display images of Patrick Stewart as the Star Trek captain around the city.

The campaign ended in late September 2015. It collected $2,785 from 67 backers. Lingley found the name Wunder Crossing among thousands of suggestions rejected by TriMet during the original naming process in 2014. He argued the name was worth keeping alive through private promotion.

In the campaign description, Lingley wrote that Picard had the bold confidence and perfect diction to lift humanity. He suggested the name would inspire residents to strive for a brighter future. The text also referenced the gleam shining off the sexy bald pate of the 24th century's greatest hero.

Lingley told the Portland Tribune at the time that the name made him laugh. He hoped people would latch onto it because it was weird enough to stick. He acknowledged he doubted TriMet would officially change the bridge's name. He viewed the campaign as a way to claim a name the public had rejected.

Patrick Stewart died Wednesday in Los Angeles at age 86. His spokesperson said he passed after a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. The diagnoses were not previously disclosed. Stewart was a British actor known for his roles in the Star Trek franchise and the X-Men films.

The bridge opened in September 2015 as Tilikum Crossing: Bridge of the People. The 1,720-foot structure was the first new Willamette River bridge in Portland in 42 years. It carries transit vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists, but it does not carry private cars.