Is “winter fix” for Sparks Street already on view – in Belgium?

Editor’s note —  the following is cross-posted from the author’s own blog:  MoOT – Modern Ottawa Blog

There is no question that Sparks Street needs a major makeover and new life injected back into it. What better way to jump start its makeover with a spectacular annual outdoor light exhibit during the holidays and Winterlude? Who would not want to go see something like this? It would be an awesome tourist attraction and it would help the businesses on that street as well.

This beautiful light artwork was created by Luminaire de Cagna, one of the participants to the second edition of the Festival of Lights Ghent in Belgium. It’s a free four-day show where various groups create an outdoor light exhibit for people to enjoy in the city. This particular project was made out of wood structures covered with 55,000 LED lights. And because it was made using LED lights, it only consumed 20 kWh of energy. So the electrical bill for something like this would not be exorbitant. In fact, it would probably pay for itself with the business such an event would bring in.

Wouldn’t you love to see something like this every year in Ottawa? This is the type of project that we (citizens and local businesses) could do on our own. We don’t need to wait for the city to organize this. All we need is a couple of creative and driven individuals. Wouldn’t you love to be part of something like this? I certainly would.

Big thanks to Charles for bringing this to my attention on facebook and his great idea on how this project would be very fitting on Spark Street. Check out photos of others exhibits on the Festival of Lights Ghent’s website .