Time to Illuminate the Bridges?

Some years ago, an effort began to illuminate the Gateway Arch. It took overcoming some red tape and raising funds to install the lighting and pay the bills, but the results are striking.

Maybe it's time to try something similar with downtown's three bridges, the Poplar Street, the Eads, and the Dr. King? There would be more red tape to overcome, costs, and maintenance. But the results would be similarly beautiful.

Right now, for the most part, downtown's bridges stand in darkness. They are mostly invisible at night, especially when viewed from the St. Louis riverfront. The darkened bridges are an underutilized asset.

Lighting the bridges would create an inviting atmosphere for the riverfront and help attract more people. From the highways and air, illuminated bridges would create a sense of arrival downtown and help emphasize St. Louis standing as a river city.

The old joke is, "will the last person to leave downtown turn out the lights?". With more people returning downtown than leaving, maybe it's time to start lighting up the place.

This is what brick theft looks like:

I hope they like their awesome driveway down in Destin!