'A very jubilant time': Tuesday marks 25 years since the opening of the Confederation Bridge

Tuesday marked 25 years since the official opening of the Confederation Bridge. About 50,000 people attended the grand opening at the time.

Only about 120,000 people lived on Prince Edward Island in 1997.

"A big celebration, I had people in my yard, they had tents set up," said former mayor Dean Sexton. "We had parties going all the time, lots of festivals going on, it was a very jubilant time."

Historian Edward MacDonald was there that day as well.

He remembers trying to get to the grand opening.

"There was an enormous traffic jam," recalled MacDonald. "Enormous traffic jam, miles and miles long."

On the Confederation Bridge’s 25th birthday there’s talk of potentially changing its name to Epekwitk Crossing -- the Mi'kmaw name for Prince Edward Island.

It was one of the names suggested for the bridge when it was first opened.

Back in 1997, some said the bridge would destroy the island way of life, attract crime from the mainland, and be the end of P.E.I. tourism.

Those dire predictions didn’t come true and the bridge ended up being a boon for the island.

"Tourism stats increased by 40 per cent in the first year after the fixed link, something like that," said MacDonald. "It went over one million for the first time, and that was ease of access. It had always been a problem in the past, there was a bottleneck at the ferry."

However, the town of Borden-Carleton, built around the ferry service the bridge replaced, was hit hard.

The ferry employed around 600 people and only 35 people were hired for the bridge.

After 25 years though, the town is recovering.

"We have a lot of industries that moved in here," said Sexton. "We have lots of business coming in here, so I think the town is beginning to pick up."

A tourist village was built as a consolation to the town of Borden-Carleton, now as much a part of coming to the island as travelling over the bridge itself.