SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — It’s been over a year since the iconic Bay Bridge lights went dark, but the nonprofit organization behind the art display is close to reaching the funds needed to bring them back.
Nonprofit Illuminate said last year that the lights needed work to fix broken strands and implement upgrades. “A victim of the harsh environmental conditions on San Francisco Bay, the system of LEDs was failing at a rate faster than could be repaired,” the Illuminate website said.
Over the past year, Illuminate has been collecting donations and raising $10 million of the $11 million goal. Once funding is complete, the nonprofit said it will take approximately 10 months to install the upgraded light display.
The new art installation, called “The Bay Lights 360,” would use 50,000 LEDs on the bridge. That’s double the number of LEDs previously used and will make the display visible to more of the surrounding communities as well as drivers on the Bay Bridge, according to Illuminate.
This “360-degree” approach will allow the lights to be seen throughout San Francisco, on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, and in many East Bay communities, including Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville. And for the first time, we seek to have the lights visible to drivers on the Bay Bridge, creating a world-class, nighttime public art portal into San Francisco.
Illuminate
Before turning off last year, the Bay Bridge lights had been lit up for 10 years.
