Riverlife Bridge in downtown Wausau (Photo courtesy of WAOW-TV)
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — City leaders in Wausau are trying to figure out how to decide what events are suitable for colored lighting on a popular downtown bridge.
Monday afternoon, Wausau’s Parks and Recreation Committee had a discussion about developing a policy for the lighting of the Riverlife Bridge. The Riverlife Bridge was completed in 2018 as part of the Riverlife Project’s 1st phase of development that began in 2016. When built the bridge was outfitted with lights that can change colors.
Since the opening of the bridge in 2018, Wausau’s Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department has found that changing the colors of the lights is no easy task. Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Director Jamie Polley explains to the Committee what makes changing the color of lights on the bridge so difficult.
“Somebody has to physically go down to the bridge’s electrical box and take out the driver, bring it to CCIT. CCIT actually is the one that programs the lighting for us. And then someone has to take it back down there. So it’s not just a computer program that we can get onto and change”.
With public requests starting to come in about changing the light color on the Riverlife Bridge for different causes, the Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department is looking to establish a policy for the lighting. The department is hoping that an established policy will help streamline the process of changing light colors on the bridge while also being responsive to community requests.
When the bridge first opened, the City put together a list of events that they could recognize by changing the lights. Now the City has realized the initial list includes events that wouldn’t work with the bridge, like Badger and Packer football games that are usually played during the day when the lights on the bridge are off. City staff is looking to reduce the initial list to just select events with the help of the Committee.
In discussion Monday afternoon, committee members were in agreement that the lighting on the bridge should only be changed for special events. The committee also felt it would be a good idea to only change the light color on the bridge for secular holidays to avoid excluding anyone from the recognitions.
Mayor Katie Rosenberg suggested that the city uses a similar policy to one in Appleton regarding flags at City Hall. “The way they solved it in Appleton was that it needs to be tied to a proclamation and you get your flag for one day. So you would have to pick the day that you would want it to be and they only do it for one day. So we could tie it to a whole month if that’s what we wanted to do.”
No final decisions were made on the bridge lighting policy during the meeting. But Committee members will be going over the initial list of events from City Staff to narrow down what events should be recognized with bridge lighting. The Committee is expected to discuss that revised list of events at their next meeting in April.
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