News 4-9-08 In the News

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Posted by: Tom McKenney - 4/12/2008 10:32:52 AM
Stremmel Gallery / LuLou's spend time and money coming up with well-thought buildings on S. Virginia Street and then a few years later the city plops a bunch of off-the-shelf "Victorian"-esque street lights right in front of the buildings without rhyme or reason? Yeah, what the heck are they "fussin" about? If you read the article you'd see that Miguel's across the street is also having a problem with the lights. On top of that, the bank across from Stremmel Gallery is on the record as disliking them as well.

Posted by: Mike Van H - 4/12/2008 11:13:39 AM
OK true...however I didn't see Stremmel, or the bank, or any of the complainers, at any of the Redevelopment, City Council or Citizens Advisory Committee meetings where the pilot lighting project between Pueblo and Mt Rose was discussed many times. I was there :) Regardless of what everyone thinks of the lights, the 'reason' and 'rhyme' is that the city set standards for lighting downtown, and they were simply trying to be consistent. In addition, it was a pilot TEST program for the rest of Virginia Street to Liberty, so it sounds like the city learned some lessons in the process. However most people's complaints were about the amount of light and not just the style of light posts. There are a ton of valid reasons to have a city street lit up to a certain lighting level, including curbing graffiti, lowering crime, making people feel safer walking down the street, better lighting for pedestrians, etc etc, ESPECIALLY on a business/transit corridor. To me, that's more important than the lights changing the color of a building from red to terra cotta at night. However, I do agree the city should be flexible in the design style of the lighting when they complete the rest of Virginia Street...but I definitely don't have a problem with Virginia Street being more lit up. I agree with the City that businesses shouldn't really have a final say in how much light is cast down onto streets and sidewalks, but that they should be able to suggest lighting styles to compliment their businesses instead of just planting a row of one style of lighting for an entire stretch of Virginia.

Posted by: Sara - 4/12/2008 1:25:43 PM
I prefer that area brighter. It makes for a nice evening when you can walk from Stremmel to Miguel's toeat then head over to Chapel for a drink, or over to Sushi Pier 2. I feel safer with more light. I don't like the Victorian design of the lights though. It would be nice to see more modern lights along that part of Virginia. Or maybe real gas lights akin to San Diego's gas lmap district. Are the lights scheduled to be installed all the way up to Ceol's and Amendment 21? I would like to see the business area have a different kind of lighting other than Victorian.