Bright Lights, Bickering City

The City Council took step today to make downtown's Figueroa Corridor look like Tokyo after dark. The Wilshire Grand project, a 45-story hotel and residence building and a 65-story office complex, will feature lighted advertising that changes every four minutes or every eight seconds depending on which floor it's on. Other floors will have streaming text and the floors in between will feature LED lights built into the buildings' surfaces showing giant flowers and vines. The Council approved the plan today 13 to 1, with Westside member Bill Rosendahl the lone dissenter. Today's City Council action overruled the City Planning Commission, which voted unanimously against the architectural lighting plan.

Segment image: Colored "architectural LED lighting" that will rise on the upper part of the Wilshire Grand hotel and office project, courtesy of AC Martin