A nod to the past with a look to the future

City to install new light fixtures throughout Downtown

Dave Fidlin | Downtown News

With the intent of being more energy efficient and achieving significant cost savings – in the long run – the City of San Diego will soon embark on an ambitious effort that will involve replacing many of the existing light fixtures in the Downtown area. It pays homage to the neighborhood’s past, with an eye set squarely on the future.

Lorie Cosio-Azar, project officer with the City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department, said the work is moving forward after two successful pilot projects in East Village.

Before awarding the green light, Cosio-Azar said city workers took inventory of all of the city’s different types of lighting. While performing this fieldwork, officials outlined more than two-dozen variations of fixtures throughout the different Downtown neighborhoods.

The new "state-of-the-art" light fixtures will be installed in five Downtown neighborhoods. (Courtesy City of San Diego Environmental Services) — The new “state-of-the-art” light fixtures will be installed in five Downtown neighborhoods. (Courtesy City of San Diego Environmental Services)

In some areas, pendant-steel hanging fixtures have adorned city streets. In other areas, fixtures described as cobras have been in place – a term coined because the globed tops represent the heads of snakes.

After determining that Southern Contracting Company of San Marcos, Calif., offered the “Best Value Design Build,” Cosio-Azar said the city has now put a timeline in place. The design phase is underway, and the actual installation of the fixtures is to begin in late November. By April of 2014, the project should be complete.

Though almost every other neighborhood within Downtown San Diego will be receiving new fixtures that have a unified look, the historic and distinct five-globed lighting fixtures in the Gaslamp Quarter are staying put.

“Nothing is changing in Gaslamp,” said Jimmy Parker, executive director of the Gaslamp Quarter Association, an organization that promotes the dining, entertainment and shopping options within the community.

City officials are touting the new double-globed fixtures that will soon be installed as attractive infrastructure aimed at capturing some of the old world charm of the Gaslamp Quarter.

In addition to the Gaslamp Historic District – bound by C Street to the north, Sixth Street to the east, Harbor Drive to the south and Fourth Street to the west – the city will also not replace light fixtures in the Chinese-Asian Thematic Historic District that is bound by G Street to the north, Fifth Street to the east, J Street to the south and Third Street to the west.

Cosio-Azar said the City devised its replacement map after consulting with community groups throughout the Downtown area.

“We wanted to check before we just went ahead and started changing all of the lights,” Cosio-Azar said.

Map shows five neighborhoods (excluding the Gaslamp Quarter and the Chinese-Asian Thematic Historic District): Little Italy, Marina, Columbia, Cortez Hill and East Village. Click for a larger picture. (Courtesy City of San Diego Environmental Services)

In all, Cosio-Azar said the city plans to switch out about 3,000 fixtures across five neighborhoods, including East Village, Cortez Hill, Core/Columbia, Little Italy and the Marina District.

The new fixtures will feature cutting-edge technology that has Cosio-Azar and other members of the city’s Environmental Services Department eager to tap into the marvels of this modern technology.

By logging into a secure server, city employees will have an opportunity to determine online whether a specific fixture has lighting that is low in wattage or in need of replacement. The goal, Cosio-Azar said, is to be proactive and mitigate the number of service calls that come directly from residents and business owners.

“This is something that’s so new, and we’re excited by the thought of having it up and running,” Cosio-Azar said. “It will help in addressing any problems that come up. Crews can more quickly evaluate if a light is out, and it’s going to really improve response times.”

The new fixtures will feature light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs that last longer than the traditional incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. LED bulbs have also been touted for their energy-efficient features.

While the upcoming changes will not impact Gaslamp Quarter, Parker said he is pleased city officials have been focusing their attention on lighting.

“More lighting has been needed, particularly in some of the pedestrian thoroughfares,” Parker said. “Lighting is an important issue, and it should be a high priority. That seems obvious, but it doesn’t always happen the way it should.”

Downtown San Diego Partnership’s Clean & Safe program, the property and business improvement district (PBID) for the Downtown region, was invested in the program from the beginning and has monitored its progress.

“We are very excited about the new lighting program,” said Ryan Loofbuorrow, executive director of Clean & Safe. “Safety is our number one concern and we believe the new lighting technology will provide a more consistent and reliable lighting system for our Downtown.

Dave Fidlin has been a professional journalist for more than a dozen years. Throughout his career, he has contributed to a variety of newspapers, magazines and websites across the nation. He has a special affinity for San Diego and its people. Contact him at [email protected].

Editor Morgan M. Hurley contributed to this article.