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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
The Eads used to be illuminated.
I would love to see the bridges well lit. (I have seen unsuccessful attempts, so am a bit cautious.) Also, I would hope that the new bridge shines at night to good advantage. I propose a name for the new bridge as the Lincoln-Grant Union Bridge, for obvious reasons.
thanks for listening, Mark
I'd love to see the Eads bridge illuminated because it is beautiful in any light. Can't see illuminating 40/64 bridge as it is utilitarian and very close to Arch. Don't know about new 70 bridge, but it's far enough off both Arch & Eads that it could work.
My understanding is that river traders (barges, but "river traders" sounds more elegant) balked at having illuminated bridges because the reflection off the water at night could impede their ability to easily navigate through the stanchions.
As a matter of fact, Gateway Foundation paid for the lighting of the Arch about 10 years ago, and continues to pay for the electricity.
Night Lights - Too Much of a Good Thing?
Any attempt to does this has serious ramifications. Look at the failure of the Eads illumination.
Why don't they ever turn the Arch lights on? They put them up when the Pope visited in 1999, and I've rarely seen them on since, not even for the 2 World Series we've won since!
I think lighting the bridges would improve people's awareness of downtown and its connections to the river, but good points have been raised about boat operators who actually still use the river for the purpose that made St. Louis great, and the fact that it's been done before and ended for some reason. Also, our government is too busy spending $20 million of federal money for "improvements" to a stretch of highway that should be brought to a continuous grade. I expect MVVA's plan to all but evaporate by 2015 as financial realities continue to sink in. So as you can see, government and private investors are currently too busy to pursue good ideas.
Great idea. It's been along time since I've seen the Arch lit up.
Rick, This is an excellent idea. What a grand entrance that would be from Illinois into Missouri, but also an out-of-towner flying into St. Louis at night would be awed by what an incredibly vibrant city they are entering. Let me know what I can do to help!
Post a Comment