[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The Lake Shore Drive drawbridge that spans the Chicago River carries thousands of cars a day.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]It's among the first structures to catch the vicious winter winds off the lake.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And it's one of the final barriers for tall-masted rivercraft seeking open water.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]To suburban native Richard Dorsay, though, it's home.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Or it was until Sunday, when the 36-year-old homeless man was evicted by police and city officials -- who were stunned to find he'd been living for at least three years in a little wooden village built into the beams and girders of the bridge's intricate underbelly.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Dorsay and several of his "neighbors" were able to enter through a slim, almost unnoticeable opening in the median of the double-decker bridge's lower level. They then crawled to their lair, which was replete with creature comforts and nearly invisible to anybody on the river.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Dorsay tapped into the bridge's electricity to power a space heater, television, PlayStation video game and microwave.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]If he had to bathe, he might slip upstairs to the usually vacant -- and sometimes unlocked -- bridgetender's office and wash off in a sink.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Authorities were amazed not only by his elaborate setup, but that he had managed to survive so long inside a bridge that, in the warmer months at least, regularly rises and lowers, shifting gears and tons of steel.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]But to Dorsay, that was just part of the pace of his life below, which included watching Bears games and sharing a few beers with friends.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]When the bells rang, signaling the arms of the bridge soon would ascend, he braced for a ride and cruised with the bridge as it slowly pitched him forward. If he was sitting down, he'd soon be standing.
[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"The first time it was scary,'' Dorsay said in an interview. "After that, it was almost like riding a Ferris wheel.''
[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bridge13.html
[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]It's among the first structures to catch the vicious winter winds off the lake.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]And it's one of the final barriers for tall-masted rivercraft seeking open water.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]To suburban native Richard Dorsay, though, it's home.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Or it was until Sunday, when the 36-year-old homeless man was evicted by police and city officials -- who were stunned to find he'd been living for at least three years in a little wooden village built into the beams and girders of the bridge's intricate underbelly.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Dorsay and several of his "neighbors" were able to enter through a slim, almost unnoticeable opening in the median of the double-decker bridge's lower level. They then crawled to their lair, which was replete with creature comforts and nearly invisible to anybody on the river.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Dorsay tapped into the bridge's electricity to power a space heater, television, PlayStation video game and microwave.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]If he had to bathe, he might slip upstairs to the usually vacant -- and sometimes unlocked -- bridgetender's office and wash off in a sink.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Authorities were amazed not only by his elaborate setup, but that he had managed to survive so long inside a bridge that, in the warmer months at least, regularly rises and lowers, shifting gears and tons of steel.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]But to Dorsay, that was just part of the pace of his life below, which included watching Bears games and sharing a few beers with friends.[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]When the bells rang, signaling the arms of the bridge soon would ascend, he braced for a ride and cruised with the bridge as it slowly pitched him forward. If he was sitting down, he'd soon be standing.
[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"The first time it was scary,'' Dorsay said in an interview. "After that, it was almost like riding a Ferris wheel.''
[/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bridge13.html
[/font]
