Four Landmark Bridges Will Be Bathed in a Shimmering Canvas of LED Lights

Four landmark bridges including Platt Street Bridge, Brorein Street Bridge, Kennedy Boulevard Bridge and CSX Railroad Bridge will be bathed in a shimmering canvas of LED lights as part of the city's "Agua Luces" ("water lights") art project. According to Tampa Mayor Buckhorn, the project is a public-private partnership involving the city of Tampa's Public Art Program, Tampa Electric and People's Gas, and Lights on Tampa. it is estimated to cost about $300,000, will be funded by TECO Energy. City officials selected Chicago artist Tracey Dear for the project through a juried process for the original "Lights on Tampa" in 2006. Dear has been responsible for lighting 11 bridges spanning more than 1.2 miles of the Chicago River, as well as Chicago's Millennium Park, the Wrigley Building and Totland Bay Pier in the United Kingdom. Dear said he is still in the early stages of the conceptual design, but each of the bridges will have a different look. Each will be individually controlled by software that will allow the lights to change colors, patterns and designs. The light installation is scheduled to begin in the summer and be completed by August, just in time for the Republican National Convention, scheduled for Aug. 27-30. After that, the bridges will stay permanently lit, Buckhorn said. The city hopes to extend the "Agua Luces" project to the remaining four bridges in downtown Tampa, as well as the Selmon Expressway, by 2014. Source: www.ledinside.com