London Bridge one of Arizona's seven wonders

By DAVID BELL - Todays News-Herald 

Sunday, July 8, 2007 7:55 PM MST

Residents of Arizona have declared the London Bridge a true wonder.

A statewide survey placed the London Bridge in third place of the Seven Wonders of Arizona, an effort to piggyback on the new Seven Wonders of the World designated by worldwide vote Saturday.

Jarrod Lyman, vice president of the Lake Havasu Convention and Visitor's Bureau, said the designation is sure to help in the marketing of the city.

“Anytime an attraction is showcased, it's going to help boost tourism efforts,” Lyman said.

The top vote getter in the Arizona polling was Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona with 2,064 votes, followed by the Canyon de Chelly ruins on the Navajo Indian reservation with 1,543 votes and then the London Bridge with 1,457 votes.

“It was officially announced on Saturday, so we'll see what kind of effect it'll have on inquiries and CVB web traffic,” Lyman said. “If you look at what an engineering feat it was to get the bridge to Lake Havasu City, dismantling it, shipping it here and re-assembling it piece-by-piece, it's pretty darn impressive. So the London Bridge deserved to be on this list.”

Rounding out the rest of the Seven Wonders of Arizona are the Hoover Dam, the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Montezuma Castle National Monument in Camp Verde and the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

“I just want to say thanks to the Havasu residents that saw the value of this, who made the effort to vote for the London Bridge,” said Lyman.

The London Bridge is one of four Mohave County landmarks to make the top 20. The Hoover Dam in fourth place straddles the Colorado River and connects Mohave County with Clark County, Nev.

Coming in at number 10 was an attraction not even one-year-old, the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the Hualapai Indian reservation. Started in 2004 and opened to the public this past March, the glass bridge structure - including a see-though floor - is suspended 4,000 feet above the Colorado River and floor of the west rim of the Grand Canyon.

And at number 11 was Route 66, the road that connected Chicago to Los Angeles before the interstate system was put in place. Route 66 crosses through Coconino and Mohave Counties in Arizona, with the local portion going through Kingman, Topock, Golden Shores and Oatman.

Coconino County had six attractions place in the top 20, Maricopa County had five and Yavapai County had three.

The new worldwide Seven Wonders of the World, as determined by a global poll initiated by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, are: the Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal, Jordan's Petra, Peru's Machu Picchu, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid.

Of the first Seven Wonders of the World compiled in 2 B.C. - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the pyramids of Giza and the Pharos lighthouse off Alexandria - only the pyramids of Giza remain. The others have all vanished.