It would be so beautiful and would draw people in to spend money in the city. I know that the person responsible for the Green Tree we have is an advocate for doing this. Why can’t we get it going?

They could be for all the holidays celebrated in winter, could have one just representing Lowell vs any holiday.

It would be awesome.

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M_Night_Shambles_on t1_j19gt6v wrote on December 22, 2022 at 5:29 PM

I quite like our weathered old smoke stacks against the back drop of a grey winter sky.

Sbatio OP t1_j19mkar wrote on December 22, 2022 at 6:06 PM

Well we would only light them at night, so maybe we can do both? I never notice the lines of lights, on the one we have now, in the daytime.

Menschy t1_j1c12dy wrote on December 23, 2022 at 4:33 AM

Why do you think anyone would come to Lowell to see some lit up smokestacks? Any money would be far better spent funding the arts or education for residents.

Sbatio OP t1_j1c2c9o wrote on December 23, 2022 at 4:45 AM

Art is the handmaid of human good.

It would be beautiful, it would reflect off the Merrimack, the lighting could be an event like Christmas Tree lightings are many places.

People love things like this, there are the Ice palace lights, the zoo lights, there is the 200 xmas tree display in Medford annually, the Boston common tree lighting, Rockefeller center, etc

Why not spend it on schools? Because our schools are well funded, not every dollar should be spent on utility.

This is funding the arts.

packplusplus t1_j1ahec8 wrote on December 22, 2022 at 9:28 PM

It'd be rad af, but aren't most of the stacks in bad shape or covered in cell towers? Maybe with the public art being allowed, some more fun stuff could happen...

GimmeYourFries t1_j1br2s3 wrote on December 23, 2022 at 3:09 AM

I interviewed the guy who owns Wannalancit once and he told me it costs about $30,000 per season to light that, though that was about a decade ago and I think before LEDs.

I suspect it’s still cost prohibitive though. I’m not sure how much the bridges cost but maybe the city could do it now that we have LEDs. I think the bridges are supported by someone other than the city though.

I’d support expanding that effort.

Edit to add my old story on this from 2010 when it wasn't lit: $30,000 per year according to John Power, the primary owner https://www.lowellsun.com/2010/12/01/lowell-pining-for-holiday-landmark/amp/

Also an MV Mag story with the cost and no paywall: https://www.mvmag.net/2016/11/27/christmas-stack/

Sbatio OP t1_j1buode wrote on December 23, 2022 at 3:38 AM

That is no small amount of money for an individual but more manageable as part of the city budget.

Some could be lit by projecting light onto them, which would be cheaper. Like one could have the city seal hitting it towards the top and that’s the whole display for 1.

Do you have any research from back when you did the interview about who else owns the other stacks?