Update on Possibility of Purple Lighting for the Aerial Lift Bridge Remembrance of Prince

When it was announced yesterday that Enger Tower would be lit purple in honor of Prince, plenty of people asked whether or not Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge would follow suit. While the process to possibly make it happen was initiated, it will ultimately not be happening. 

The folks at Duluth Event Lighting, who also are responsible for the other special lighting of the Aerial Lift Bridge, began work in their shop to prepare lighting for a potential special bridge lighting in memory of Prince. They posted a couple photos to their Facebook page (seen below) to notify folks the process was started to potentially light the bridge if everything fell into place.

The business has gained experience over the past few years with their special lighting projects for the 4th of July and causes like ovarian cancer awareness, and after the the news of Prince's passing, they began prep work to provide a visual tribute to the iconic musician and Minnesotan by bathing Duluth's most iconic landmark in Prince's trademark purple.

The process isn't a quick or easy one, however. Beside the work necessary to create and set up the special light banks for the bridge, permitting must be sought and approved from 4 different agencies. In order to change the lighting on the bridge, there must be coordination with the City of Duluth, Army Corps of Engineers, Bridge Management Team, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Being the bridge is part of an international waterway, lighting projects are taken very seriously, as they impact ship traffic.

Beside the fact that there is an involved process for approval, cost is also a major prohibitive factor. Contract laborator costs that reach into the realm of thousands of dollars for the City of Duluth ultimately led to a decision not to undertake this effort. Alternatively, Enger Tower's lighting system is designed to allow for quick and easy color changes without the costs associated with a major lighting project, which made Thursday night's lighting of the tower a much easier.