If you haven't had a light bulb moment in awhile, an upcoming Trail bridge project can offer you one – literally.
As the Downtown Opportunities and Action Committee (DOAC) nears a goal of raising $190,000, or half of the money needed to light up the Victoria Street Bridgesg, the group has come up with a unique and public way to complete the campaign.
For a $200 donation, anyone wishing to “Buy a Bulb” can do so beginning March 1.
With another $50,000 to go before reaching its portion of the $380,000 project, the initiative offers people the chance to purchase one programmable, coloured LED bulb that will one day be part of a series of lights identifying the Victoria Street Bridge as a landmark feature in downtown Trail.
Contributions to the DOAC project can be made at city hall, and are tax deductible.
The Ministry of Transport is supportive of the initiative, noted Coun. Lisa Pasin during the Monday night meeting. “They did put forward some suggestions to changes of design which could end up as a cost reducing position for the project.”
Trail council was first approached by the downtown organization one year ago with the novel idea for themed bridge lighting to add visual impact to the downtown.
“Hopefully through the sale of lights at $200 each, we will be able to finalize the DOAC's portion of the project and make the Victoria Street lighting a reality,” Pasin added.
The project will come up as part of the city’s 2015 capital budget deliberations, confirmed David Perehudoff, Trail's chief administrative officer.
“With the DOAC money in hand, council will need to determine how they want to proceed and if they will fund the city’s share,” he explained.
“I would suggest that the donors would not be prepared to wait indefinitely and would want to see the project completed in the next year or two.”