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Lighting Up Montpelier!

Thanks to extraordinary community effort, Downtown Montpelier has largely recovered from

the devastating flood this summer. Its commercial center remains fragile, however, and needs

your help.

To attract residents and tourists downtown, make walking in the city safer during the winter

months, and to celebrate the resilience and recovery of the capital city, Montpelier Alive is

working to illuminate up to seven historic bridges along the Winooski River and its North

Branch.

In the winter of 2023, as part of a pilot project, Montpelier Alive, Montpelier’s downtown

revitalization non-profit organization, lit up the Langdon Street bridge. Twinkling lights wrapped

around the steel trusses illuminated the center of town and reflected off the river. What was

once a dark side street became a magnet for holiday shoppers, evening dining and a vibrant

music scene. The sparkling bridge declared that Montpelier was open for business and

welcomed all to the party!

Montpelier Alive is collaborating with local historians and naturalists to use Montpelier’s unique

history to inform each bridge’s illumination design. For instance, the Rialto bridge will be

underlit to highlight the North Branch River that runs beneath two lanes of traffic, two

sidewalks and an entire building on State Street! The trusses of the Granite Street bridge will be

lined with large white bulbs, to highlight the engineering of the structure and mimic the rivets

holding the steel beams together. The impact of seven bridges, each uniquely lit, will transfer

Montpelier’s cityscape this winter.

Katie Trautz, Executive Director of Montpelier Alive, believes "Illuminating Montpelier's Bridges

will not only be impactful for our downtown economy as visitors from near and far come to

witness the lights, but the project will act as a metaphor for community resiliency, bringing our

town together for a better future."

This initiative will not require Montpelier tax dollars. Donations and grants will provide the

funds necessary for building the electric infrastructure, the services of the New England Holiday

Lighting Company, the professionals responsible for the magnificent Shelburne Museum Winter

Lights display, and the modest amount of electricity required for the energy efficient LED lights.

Lighting will be limited to times when downtown restaurants and theaters are open to allow

dark skies for sleeping and enjoying the night stars.

Help Montpelier Alive light up the capital city this winter! If the campaign reaches its $13,350

goal by May 31, 2024 the Montpelier Bridge Illumination Project will receive a matching grant of

$26,650 from DHCD’s Better Places program. Click HERE for project details and to DONATE.

The focus of the Better Places grant is on the three bridges that illuminate downtown: the

Rialto, Langdon and School Street bridges. Any remaining funds will help build the

infrastructure to also light the Bailey Avenue, Taylor Street, and Main Street bridges that cross

the Winooski River. Montpelier Alive plans to continue raising funds for all seven bridges over

the next year. For more information on the Bridge project, visit Montpelier Alive’s webpage:

montpelieralive.com/bridges

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Discover Montpelier

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Welcome to the Montpelier ArtSynergy Project

Public art helps to define a city by honoring its history, celebrating its culture, and creating rich experiences for residents and visitors alike. Art activates spaces and invigorates economies—and brings smiles and inspiration to folks of all ages, day in and day out. The Montpelier ArtSynergy Project was a community initiative, in collaboration with Montpelier Alive, the City of Montpelier, and the Community Engagement Lab, that developed a strategic Public Art Master Plan and community-wide vision for how public art can be integrated into the framework of the City of Montpelier.

Click here to read the completed Master Plan and click here to learn more about the newly-created Public Art Commission.

Why does the City need a Master Plan?

The Montpelier ArtSynergy Master Plan knits our diverse community together by defining and implementing our expression—our signature—to the world. The people of Montpelier are creative, spirited, and ingenious. The Public Art Master Plan sets the standard for how we begin to implement and enjoy public art; it also celebrates our community’s artistic vitality. Public art helps us celebrate our heritage, communicates our direction, and characterizes our sense of place. Thoughtfully implemented public art will define “Montpelier” to ourselves and project our special qualities and competitive advantages to visitors and investors. In this way, our Public Art Master Plan doubles as an important economic development tool.

What Does the Plan Contain?

The Public Art Master Plan articulates goals, identify resources and propose prioritized strategies, timelines and cost estimates for the funding, placement, creation and maintenance of public art in Montpelier, with a focus on the Downtown. The ArtSynergy Master Plan will develop a public art strategy that connects future design and cultural initiatives for greater community and economic development. The community-wide planning process included small focus groups, individual interviews, and large community exercises. The centerpiece of the planning process was a series of five creative visioning workshops led by teaching artists from different disciplines.