Night lights add vibrancy to Queen Street
Auckland’s Golden Mile will take on a new glow at night when 84 native nikau and exotic liquidamber trees are lit up in the coming months.
The $880,000 project is being carried out by the Heart of the City business group to bring vibrancy to Queen St and link up with the Auckland Harbour Bridge, Sky Tower, the Ferry Building and other heritage buildings that shine at night.
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck says the project is a real opportunity for the city to be thinking more about the night-time economy, with longer shopping hours and more going on in the CBD.
“One in eight people in London are employed at night and the Sydney night-time economy is worth more than the daytime economy,” she says.
It will be a big improvement from the Queen St she encountered at night when she began her role in 2015.
“It seemed quite dark to me and I thought, something is missing here.”
Work has started on installing large halogen lights at the base of 50 liquidambers and replacing existing lights with halogens at the base of 34 nikau between Customs and Victoria Sts, where the Sky Tower comes into view.
Like this year’s project to light up the harbour bridge, the lights are capable of being programmed to create different colours to celebrate events such as New Year’s Eve and Auckland Pride Festival.
The project is due in late September or October, possibly during Art Week or Diwali, which symbolises the triumph of light over darkness.
Energy company Vector, which led the $10 million Vector Lights project to light the harbour bridge, is providing its expertise for the Queen St project.
The lights will be connected to the server that controls the bridge, so Queen St can run on its own or be co-ordinated with the bridge lights, a spokesman said. Vector is also providing about $200,000.
“We see it as a brilliant complement to Vector Lights,” the spokesman said.
Mayor Phil Goff said the lights would be a fantastic addition to Queen St at night and create a great ambience in the city. “This is a way in which the corporate sector can make Auckland a better place while not placing the burden on ratepayers,” he said. The mayor said the council would take ownership of the lights, which will be maintained by Auckland Transport.