West side of Hoan bridge to be lit before summer's end

By: CBS 58 Newsroom

Posted: Jul 15, 2020 3:14 PM CDT

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Looking on the bright side during the pandemic, Light the Hoan announced Wednesday, July 15, they will celebrate the completion of the first phase of the project allowing the west side of the bridge to be lit by the end of summer.

Light the Hoan is a group of local business and civic leaders working together in an effort to install state-of-the-art LED lighting along Milwaukee’s iconic yellow arches of the Daniel Hoan Memorial Bridge.

According to a news release, all funds raised for the project lighting, installation and maintenance were raised privately between May of 2018 and January 2020; no public dollars are involved.

After installation and testing of the west side lights, a community celebration will be held in late summer with the bridge to light up daily afterward.

The release says, Light the Hoan has worked in a unique public private partnership with the Wisconsin DOT for approval and oversight of the light installation, which will begin in late July. The Milwaukee community will begin to see test lighting starting in September, prior to the official lighting ceremony, date TBD.

"In times of crisis, light can be a symbol of hope and comfort. We know that lighting a bridge doesn't solve our health or social challenges, but, from day one, we wanted this project to be about more than lights on a bridge,” said Michael Hostad, co-founder of Light the Hoan. “To
that end, moving forward with lighting the Hoan allows us to demonstrate that mission through programs like Code the Hoan, which creates unique STEM education opportunities for local students who will be able to program the lights on the bridge."

See Also Anonymous $1.2M donation pushes Light the Hoan effort closer to reality

With Phase 1 moving forward, the Light the Hoan team will continue to fundraise the last $1.1 million to light the east side of the bridge and advance meaningful partnerships, some of which have been formed over the last two years to support the bridge’s significant technical
capabilities.

Beyond animation and changing colors, the lights can be synchronized to respond to external events such as Brewers’ home runs, big plays at the Fiserv Forum, or even live music.

One night per month the bridge will be lit in colors representing these non-profits and a percentage of all bulb sales from that month will go to support the non-profit.

For more on the Light the Hoan project, CLICK HERE.