The City of Owensboro posted a photo to social media last week that showed what the Glover Cary Bridge will look like with newly-installed lights. The multi-colored lights shown in the photo are one of many functions the bridge’s new lighting system, and City officials said they were astounded by the brightness and intensity.
The downtown bridge has been without lights since early 2013, and officials with the City of Owensboro have been working to relight the bridge for years. Assistant City Manager Lelan Hancock said the $1.9 million project will be a symbol of pride for the community, even if some residents don’t see the positives right now.
“When we turn it on, it’ll be something the community is proud of,” Hancock said. “Just like with Smother’s Park — some people [were unsure] about that project in the beginning, and it’s an area of pride now.”
Hancock said he was taken aback by the beauty of the new bridge lights during the sneak peek reveal he attended last week, calling the new LED-like lights “much brighter and more intense than I had imagined.”
The new lights differ in many ways from the former pendant lights that hung across the top of the blue bridge, Hancock said.
“The new system actually has functionality, and it’s really going to be a brilliant color, whether it’s red, white and blue for the 4th of July, green for COVID-19 remembrance and St. Patrick’s Day, or pink for Valentine’s Day,” he said.
The project, funded through the City’s downtown TIF (tax increment funds) reimbursement of $500,000 and community vision funds that have been allocated toward relighting the bridge, will pick up the pace now that all the angles and adjustments have been worked out.
Those cruising across the bridge or watching from land will start to see contractors installing the lights in lift buckets. Hancock commended Madisonville-based Groves Electrical Services and Assistant City Engineer Dirk Dooper for their continued hard work and dedication toward the project.
The entire project is set to wrap up in mid-to-late July.
