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-- Peter Whoriskey
Plug Is Pulled on Airport's Space-Age Light Display
Flying into Los Angeles at night became a colorful experience when the airport installed towering pylons that light up in changing hues. Some of the 30 round plastic shafts, which went in just before the 2000 Democratic National Convention, are as tall as 100 feet. The effect is Stonehenge-meets-spaceship.
But last week, after two years of malfunctions and almost $1 million in annual maintenance costs, the city temporarily pulled the plug.
For the past two years, some travelers have noticed splotchy colors that sometimes did not change or did not light up. The problem is a complex lighting system that is unreliable and requires a repairman to hang upside down in a harness to fix each of the 18-inch stage lights inside the towers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Now the city is spending $1.8 million for a simpler system that offers more control over color combinations. City officials have already begun pondering the politics of displaying college and other symbolic colors at the city's gateway.
"If we do it for USC, do we have to do it for UCLA?" Charlie Sipple, construction and maintenance manager for the airport agency, wondered in the Times. Airport officials are drafting a policy.
-- Sonya Geis
