This winter, Montpelier Alive will artfully light up seven of Montpelier’s downtown bridges. Bridges are among the most important visual elements of any city. Lighting the bridges in the historic downtown will create a visual spectacle designed to add warmth and beauty to our cityscape, draw visitors from near and far, improve pedestrian safety, and celebrate the community and resilience of Vermont’s capital city.
Each bridge will have a unique lighting system, designed to highlight its role in our community, its structure and engineering, or its relationship to other bridges. Four bridges will be lit along the Winooski: the Bailey Avenue bridge, Taylor Street, Main Street (Shaw’s) bridge, and Granite Street. Three will be lit along the North Branch: School Street, Langdon Street, and the Rialto (State Street).
Montpelier Alive has received support from various grants, sponsorships, and donations for this project from sources that contribute to art installations, downtown revitalization and beautification. No municipal tax dollars, aside from those designated for the arts, will be used to fund it.
Bridges are powerful symbols of connection, transformation, aspiration and overcoming obstacles. This project seeks to alleviate some of the economic and environmental challenges Montpelier has been facing. The project will help to stimulate the local economy by drawing residents and visitors downtown at night to enjoy the lights, shop, dine, and enjoy music, movies, and theater.
Our work with historians,naturalists, and the Commission on Recovery and Resilience will help us all better understand the role of our built environment on flooding in the downtown. To this end, Montpelier Alive is sponsoring several educational opportunities to raise awareness of these issues, including an exhibition in the Walgreen’s window and a series of walking tours.
We are also proud to announce that the bridges will be installed with energy efficient LED lighting, tied to the city’s municipal grid. More than 80% of the City of Montpelier’s electrical usage is from renewable sources. The installations will be on timers so that the bridges will only be lit during the winter when the nights are long and dark, when people are actively enjoying downtown amenities, and when the City is hosting special events. They will be turned off to minimize light pollution later in the evening. For the foreseeable future, the modest electric bill will be paid for by Montpelier Alive.
Montpelier Alive believes that in challenging times, it is important to make space for beauty and joy. Part of its mission is to beautify and energize our downtown. What better way to combat darkness, than with light? The lit bridges will improve pedestrian safety, connect neighborhoods, especially those across the Winooski, to the commercial center, and celebrate our city’s sense of community and resilience.
There will be many opportunities for community feedback once the bridges are lit this winter. The color, effects, and intensity of the lighting for each bridge can be adjusted to respond to community events (think pink bridges for Valentine’s Day; red, white and blue bridges for the 3rd of July!) and community concerns. We hope the citizens of Montpelier will delight in this city-wide art installation and play an active role in its evolution over time.
The opening lighting ceremony will be a celebration with a lantern parade, music, and circus performers on November 16th. The T.W. Wood Gallery will offer lantern making workshops in early November. We hope everyone will join us in celebrating a new season of light this winter!
Montpelier Alive’s Bridge Illumination Project is supported in part by the Better Places Program, administered by the DHCD in partnership with the Vermont Community Foundation and Patronicity, VT Flood Response and Recovery Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation, the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, Community National Bank, Union Mutual, LaFaso Electric, the City of Montpelier and the generous support of the community.
