It was Musco Lighting’s turn Tuesday night.
The Iowa-based company was the second to propose an improved illumination scheme around the car-vulnerable Kenan Fountain that occupies the busy intersection of Fifth Avenue and Market Street.
“The uniqueness about this is you’ve got a classic, beautiful fountain that you’ve preserved, and I applaud you for that,” said Mike Limpach, regional sales manager for Musco, to city council members on site. “And you have a unique traffic situation here that you just have to live with.”
An adequate lighting scheme could be the balance needed for the fountain and the traffic to safely coexist, city council members say; the fountain has had its share of fender scrapes and impacts over the years, including last year’s heavy impact from an impaired driver, who left nearly $74,000 in damage.
Recent story: Council sees first proposal for better Kenan Fountain lighting
After a lighting proposal demonstrated last week by the Wilmington office of the national Graybar company–it lit up the bowls and lower portion of the fountain and advised less intense lighting around the intersection than is currently there, all for the kind of contrast the human eye can appreciate–Musco cast a different approach.
While Musco did affix lights to the fountain itself, most of the attention Tuesday night was on tall poles that blanketed the intersection in white light, making sure the base of the fountain–essentially a curb curving into the intersection–was fully visible to motorists.
The current lighting scheme of low-elevation, white LED globe poles around intersection–installed by the city in February for $8,300–has received criticism from city council members including Laura Padgett for making the fountain appear darker or more shadowy. Others have said the globes seem to be the main point of attention, instead of the fountain, making for a dangerous navigation scene.
Padgett on Tuesday had some positive words for the Musco demonstration, but she didn’t favor the sharp, white pole light. Nor did Councilwoman Margaret Haynes, who noted other lights around the general area glowed with the sort of yellow that “gives that old gaslight look.”
Musco representatives suggested that would be a simple adjustment. They also said the down-casting pole lights shouldn’t bother the residents of Carolina Apartments, in the tall building overlooking the fountain at the corner of Fifth and Market.
All in all, there would be eight new light additions around the intersection and another eight attached to the fountain itself. The estimated cost would be $50,000-$60,000. Tuesday’s demonstration itself cost $5,000.
Graybar’s proposal was estimated at $25,000-$30,000. Its demonstration cost $500.
Mayor Bill Saffo (who, speaking only for himself, gave preference to the Musco option) said a decision is in the near future and a final vote could come at council’s next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 6. (Its meetings typically fall on the first and third Tuesday of each month; the city moved this one back a day as not to coincide with the Nov. 5 municipal elections).
It wouldn’t be Musco’s first project in Wilmington. In February, the company unveiled a new lighting scheme around Thalian Hall-Wilmington City Hall, paid for by the remainders of a past Thalian Hall fundraising campaign.
Musco’s brightening credits also include the White House, the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Monument.
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at[email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter:@benbrownmedia
