Come December, three more Little Rock bridges will sparkle at night over the Arkansas River.
Representatives from Entergy, Arkansas’ largest electricity provider, announced Monday that the utility would donate $2 million to help light the Main Street Bridge, the Junction Bridge Pedestrian Walkway and the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge. The unveiling is scheduled for December to coincide with the utility’s 100-year anniversary.
“This is a special year for Entergy Arkansas, celebrating our 100th year serving customers in this state,” Hugh McDonald, Entergy Arkansas’ president and chief executive officer, said during a Downtown Little Rock Partnership news conference Monday at the Peabody Little Rock hotel.
“This project has the power to change how people view this city and this state. You only turn 100 once, andthis gift will be special for decades to come for all who visit Little Rock so they will remember it.”
The backdrop for the news conference was a bird’s eye view of the three bridges that run between the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock.
In addition to the money that Entergy agreed to donate, the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock, the Clinton Foundation, the Pu-laski County Junction Bridge Authority, Philips Lighting Company and Koontz Electric will donate supplies, services and other funding worth about $400,000. Several officials from those groups said the exact funding split had not been determined, but representatives from Philips Lighting said the company would donate $100,000 in LED lights.
“The system opens tremendous possibilities,” said Phil O’Donnell of Philips Lighting. “We are always looking for ways to positively impact life and well-being without impacting the environment.”
O’Donnell showed pictures of more than a dozen bridges - not just in the United States but all over the world - for which the company had helped design and install lighting systems. The company has designed light displays for iconic landmarks, including the London Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House and the Empire State Building.
Some of the designs, like the one used at the bridge between Oakland, Calif., and San Francisco, had a shimmering effect that looked like stars twinkling in vertical lines. Others had multiple color schemes of red, blue, purple or green, and changing or fading designs.
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, who worked to bring together the partners on the project, said the gift would mean more than just pretty lights lining the city’s downtown at night. He said it would create a feature for Little Rock to market for tourists and for downtown businesses.
“Their generosity will help transform our communities and will be yet another way to attract visitors to Little Rock, North Little Rock and the entire metropolitan area,” he said. “Not only that, but it will generate a sense of community, and a sense of place.”
In his evaluation of the company project, San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee told Philips Lighting representatives that the lighting drew millions of dollars into the city’s Embarcadero district along the waterfront. He said restaurants and hotels with a view of the lights were booked and sold out for months in advance of the lighting and for months afterward.
Workers from the lighting companies along with Little Rock officials have been climbing the bridges over the past few months to examine the basic infrastructure to make sure LED lights could be installed. The light systems will be an advanced system capable of programming timed events like light displays to coincide with fireworks or with a countdown for New Year’s Eve. They can also display multiple colors at the same time and simulate fading and motion.
The Big Dam Bridge and the Two Rivers Bridge are also lit, but those systems are older and not as energy efficient or as sophisticated as the technology planned for the three bridges this winter.
Monday’s announcement leaves only the Broadway Bridge unlit. The state Highway and Transportation Department has plans to rebuild the bridge over a two year period between June 2014 and the fall of 2016.
Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines made an argument for several months that the Broadway Bridge plans should include red, white and blue paint to honor veterans year-round. He recently relented because of cost and divided public opinion. The color scheme will be white, but no plans have been announced on lighting the bridge.
As for the three bridges to be lit up later this year, Stodola said no decision has been made on whether there will be a color used for everyday lighting or what that color would be.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/23/2013