Otherwise it’s just a parking garage without a very pretty façade.” I think turning them all off is a big mistake. “Anyone can build a garage, but those lights create a wow moment. “The lights make it iconic,” Lee told the Sun Sentinel. Ina Lee, a beach resident and publisher of TravelHost Magazine of Greater Fort Lauderdale, loves the light displays. The mayor asked staff to come back in the next 60 days with recommendations on other products and manufacturers. Option D: Replace the non-working lights and upgrade the software for $350,000.Move the lights that work to the south and west face for $1 million. Option C: Deactivate the north and east face and continue using the current software.Buy new lighting for the south and west face and upgrade the software for $1.25 million. Option B: Deactivate the lights on the north and east face of the garage.Option A: Replace all façade lights and upgrade the software for $2.1 million.The lighting fixtures used on the garage in 2018 are no longer made and the software that runs the light displays is obsolete, City Attorney Tom Ansbro told the Sun Sentinel.Ĭommissioners were recently given an update on the lighting problems and five options to choose from: The South Florida Sun Sentinel reached out to Skanska for comment but did not get a reply. In addition, the metal mesh screen that supports the lights is rusting and needs to be replaced.Īt a public meeting, Fort Lauderdale officials said the city is looking into taking legal action against Skanska, the general contractor that built the garage. The city contacted the manufacturer and repairs were completed in 2021.īut earlier this year, nearly 45% of the lights had stopped working. Serious problems with the light display showed up less than two years later. (City of Fort Lauderdale/Courtesy and John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel) The Las Olas Parking Garage with facade lights on and facade lights off. The exterior facade that simulates the motion of waves cost $6 million. Las Olas Circle, where it costs $4 an hour to park, opened in December 2018. Losing the decorative lighting would change the entire ambiance of the beach and the surrounding area, Casullo argued. And now to let it go dark, that’s insane.” They built that garage with the idea of perking the area up. They’ll run the American flag on July Fourth and the rainbow flag during Pride Month. “I’ll sit on my balcony and light up a cigar. “When it’s lit up at night, it’s beautiful,” Casullo said of the five-story, 650-space garage. Replacing the lights would cost $2.1 million - money that would come out of Fort Lauderdale’s parking fund as opposed to the city’s day-to-day operating budget.īob Casullo, whose balcony at the nearby Venetian condo overlooks the garage, thinks the city should go ahead and spend the money. "As we continue strengthening our focus on high-quality journalism and engaging content, we want to let you know about an important change to the Sun Sentinel's website," he said.Glitzy lights have gone dark at landmark garage on Fort Lauderdale beach. In a "Letter to Valued Readers" in Sunday's newspaper, as well as online, Sun Sentinel publisher Howard Greenberg explained the new plan. The newspaper is terming this a "digital membership", and it's being implemented at newspaper websites owned by the Chicago-based Tribune company, which owns the Sun-Sentinel and WSFL-TV. While other newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have placed full content behind a "paywall", the Sun Sentinel will be the first local outlet to make the attempt. Like most South Florida media websites, full access to has been free until now. LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - If you want to get to get the most out of the South Florida Sun- Sentinel's website, you'd better be prepared to subscribe to the print edition or find some extra cash, because starting in a week, the newspaper plans to charge for full online access.
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