MENU
SECTIONS
OTHER
CLASSIFIEDS
CONTACT US / FAQ
Advertisement
Susan Reams, a longtime local arts advocate and former head of the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, talks about how she spearheaded an effort to raise $300,000 to install programmable LED arrays on the Anthony Wayne Bridge, during a news conference in the mayor's office at One Government Center, Friday, April 13, 2018 in Toledo.
4
MORE

Fund-raising goal reached for Anthony Wayne Bridge lighting

The Blade/Dave Zapotosky

Fund-raising goal reached for Anthony Wayne Bridge lighting

The city of Toledo ceremonially presented a $300,000 check Friday to the Ohio Department of Transportation as payment for its share of a dynamic lighting system for the Anthony Wayne Bridge.

Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz honored Susan Reams, a former director of what is now the Toledo Arts Commission of Greater Toledo who headed the reconstituted Toledo Alight fund to raise the money.

The lighting system “is something that is going to make our city even more liveable, more attractive, and contribute to the ongoing momentum that we have,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said.

Advertisement

The canvass included $50,000 donations from ProMedica, Owens Corning, and Block Communications, Inc. — the latter of which owns The Blade.

The Anthony Wayne Bridge, also known informally as the High Level Bridge, is seen from a drone on a hazy Nov. 30.
David Patch
Lighting work set to start on Anthony Wayne Bridge

WATCH: Preview of lighting system to be installed for Anthony Wayne Bridge

The landmark bridge’s new lighting system is to be installed during an upcoming Ohio Department of Transportation project that also will include adding a dehumidifying system to preserve its suspension cables and repairing hold-down devices on those cables.

Advertisement

ODOT plans to award a contract for the total project, estimated to cost $14.8 million, on May 21, with work to start immediately thereafter and be finished by November, 2019.

When Mike Gramza, ODOT’s district planning and programs administrator, said the state expects the lights to be in service in July, 2019, Ms. Reams enthusiastically suggested a July 4 deadline.

Rebecca Dangelo, a department spokesman, said afterward that while a worthy goal, that date is not guaranteed.

Also known as the High Level Bridge, the 1931-vintage Anthony Wayne Bridge is the last suspension bridge on Ohio’s state-highway network.

The Blade contributed $65,100 to a previous Toledo Alight campaign during the 1980s that covered one quarter of a previous decorative lighting array on the 3,750-feet-long structure.

“Local businesses know when we all invest, everybody will do better in Toledo,” Diana Block, BCI’s executive vice president, said during the check presentation Friday. “Block Communications is proud to be able to make the skyline a little bit brighter once again.”

The state’s budget for the upcoming project included $600,000 for a basic system to replace those lights following recent state projects that overhauled and repainted the bridge.

Ms. Reams then inspired the local effort to make up the cost difference for a more dynamic system that will feature variably colored, pulsing light-emitting diodes on the bridge’s suspension cables as well as flood lighting for its towers.

Erwin Redl, an Austrian-born artist now based in Bowling Green, designed the system after Ms. Reams enlisted him into the project.

“It’s going to be really spectacular when we connect this bridge and the I-280 [bridge],” Ms. Reams said Friday.

ODOT is replacing the decorative lighting system on the I-280 Veterans’ Glass City Skyway.

Other leading donors include Taylor Automotive, Key Bank, PNC Bank, Huntington National Bank, the Toledo Mud Hens and Walleye, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, and the Lucas County Commissioners. A $3,000 arts commission contribution from Toledo’s 1 Percent for the Arts fund is the city money involved.

Mr. Redl’s local works include “Floating, in Silence,” an array of 381 suspended glass spheres in the Toledo Museum of Art's Glass Pavilion. The spheres, half filled with red liquid, move with air currents and cast ever-changing light reflections.

Other works are on display at Bowling Green State University; in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton, and farther afield in such places as New York, Toronto, Charlotte, Charleston, S.C., and Istanbul.

Contact David Patch at dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.

First Published April 13, 2018, 3:27 p.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS  
Join the Conversation
We value your comments and civil discourse. Click here to review our Commenting Guidelines.
Must Read
Partners
Advertisement
Susan Reams, a longtime local arts advocate and former head of the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, talks about how she spearheaded an effort to raise $300,000 to install programmable LED arrays on the Anthony Wayne Bridge, during a news conference in the mayor's office at One Government Center, Friday, April 13, 2018 in Toledo.  (The Blade/Dave Zapotosky)  Buy Image
Diana Block, Block Communications executive vice president, talks about money donated to help fund a programmable LED arrays on the Anthony Wayne Bridge as Susan Reams, right, a longtime local arts advocate and former head of the former Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, looks on during a news conference in the mayor's office at One Government Center. Ms. Reams raised $300,000 to fund the project. Donors were thanked and a check for $300,000 was presented to an ODOT representative during the event.  (The Blade/Dave Zapotosky)  Buy Image
Diana Block, Block Communications Executive Vice President, talks about donating money to help fund a programmable LED arrays on the Anthony Wayne Bridge, during a news conference in the mayor's office at One Government Center, Friday, April 13, 2018 in Toledo.  (The Blade/Dave Zapotosky)  Buy Image
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz presents a proclamation to Susan Reams, a longtime local arts advocate and former head of the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, during a news conference in the mayor's office at One Government Center, Friday, April 13, 2018 in Toledo.  (The Blade/Dave Zapotosky)  Buy Image
The Blade/Dave Zapotosky
Advertisement
LATEST local
Advertisement
Pittsburgh skyline silhouette
TOP
Email a Story