Bridge Named In Honor of Sports Legend
Stan Musial
- PostEagle
- July 30, 2013
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Rep. Lipinski Tribute To Polish-American Icon Stan Musial Signed Into Law
A bill cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (IL-3) to call the Interstate 70 bridge over the Mississippi River the “Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge” was signed into law by the President on July 12. Rep. Lipinski, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Poland, helped spearhead the effort to name the bridge after the St. Louis Cardinal great and Polish-American legend. The bill passed the House last month by a 395-2 vote.
“Stan Musial is the greatest Polish-American baseball player who ever lived, but it’s the distinguished life he led off of the field, including his selfless service to his country, that makes him worthy of this honor,” Rep. Lipinski said. “As a lifelong baseball fan and proud Polish-American, I am honored to see that a hero to so many will be memorialized with this impressive new bridge spanning over the mighty Mississippi River. Future generations who traverse I-70 between my home state of Illinois and Missouri will forever be reminded of ‘Stan the Man.’”
The first inductee ever into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame, Musial died in January at the age of 92. His entire Hall of Fame career was spent playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, where he amassed 3,630 hits, a .331 lifetime batting average and three World Series titles. Musial also was a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Navy, as well as a Presidential Medal of Freedom winner.
Rep. Lipinski’s congressional district is home to more than 100,000 Polish-Americans.
The I-70 bridge project over the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri is expected to be completed in 2014. Construction started in 2010. Earlier this week, an important milestone in the project was reached when work began to place the final girder beam on the new bridge.
– Office of Congressman Lipinski