The Port of San Diego’s efforts to illuminate the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge came a step closer with a $300,000 donation from BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair. The contribution was announced at the port commission meeting yesterday.
“We are pleased to participate with the port for the artistic lighting of the iconic San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge,” said Bob Koerber, the ship repair company’s vice president and general manager. “We look forward to the completion of this project for the enjoyment of residents and visitors alike.”
Below is a video shown during the Port Commission meeting on Tuesday:
This is the second big corporate donation that Port Commission Chair Marshall Merrifield has secured for the project. The first was a $100,000 contribution from the BRIC development group, who is building a 19-story InterContinental Hotel at the corner of West Broadway and Pacific Highway.
Both contributions met a Tenant Percent for Art requirement set by the Port of San Diego for all new construction along the bay. BAE Systems is building a new drydock. The company has been on board for the project for sometime. In 2013 they contributed $31,000 to the project.
So far the port has raised approximately $455,000 toward the $8 million needed to install the lights. The port hopes to complete the project in time for the bridge’s 50th anniversary in 2019.
Merrifield said a number of other port tenants, including the Coronado Ferry Company, have expressed interest in donating to the project.
Besides accepting the donation from BAE Systems, the commission also approved a workplan for the project and inclusion of the pillars in Chicano Park and possibly Coronado’s Gateway project.
Lighting the pillars in Chicano Park was the idea of Councilman David Alvarez, whose district includes Barrio Logan. Port Commissioner Garry Bonelli, who represents Coronado on the Commission, asked the port to consider including the old toll booths (Coronado Gateway) in the project.
With the infusion of cash, interest in the project has grown. The design team will make a presentation to the Coronado City Council next week, at the request of Mayor Casey Tanaka.
The idea to illuminate the bridge was first proposed in 2006 to create a “signature artwork” for the bay. In 2010 the port commission chose London-based artist Peter Fink to create the design. The following year it secured a memorandum of understanding from Caltrans, who has jurisdiction over the bridge. Under the terms of the agreement the project would be funded privately, not by taxpayers.
Budget concerns put the project on hold in 2013. It was revived in 2015 when Merrifield secured a donation from the BRIC.
Fink and his team have illuminated a number of public spaces across the globe, including the Canary Wharf Tower in London and the River of Light in Pittsburgh. His vision for San Diego Bay is to illuminate the structural and architectural features of the bridge with arrays of LED lights that can be changed from season to season or to celebrate holidays or special events.
This is most expensive public art project the port has taken up, according to Merrifield. “That is why it is so important that we get the funding right.”
Currently soliciting money through the port’s Percent for Art program, Merrifield has not ruled out asking people in the community to contribute to the project as well.
Related articles from the history of the bridge lighting project can be found here.
