Beacon of Hope Lighting

[Decious]

The Beacon of Hope was lit last night. Did anyone attend the ceremony or see it? It extends over a mile into the sky, so I'm sure someone did. It'll be on every night from dusk until about 2 am.

[BDP]

That'll be cool if you can really see it from a distance. I didn't notice it when I was downtown last night.

[russellc]

I drove by it last night, and I could only see it from about 1/4 mile away, and even then it wasn't very bright. The inside of the tube is lit up bright green and is very visible from 235 though.

[metro]

I forgot that was going on, too much excitement from the Hornets game and the American Indian cultural center the last few days. It is probably brighter from 235 because the opening is facing that way more

[ksearls]

Hi,

I attended last night's official lighting and it was pretty cool. I think it is a great new addition to the area. Rand Elliot's vision for the project is pretty amazing. The moths seemed to like it too!

Kim

[jbrown84]

So you can't really see it from more than a 1/4 mile away? That's disappointing.

[plmccordj]

What time do they consider dusk? I just left there at 8:00pm and it is still not on. I went to take a picture and waited for an hour and never came on.

Paul

[soonerguru]

Lame. Very disappointing. Rand Elliott is an unbelievably great architect,and the concept for the beacon is excellent, but the execution blows.

As another poster said, the green light they chose is so faint you don't even notice it in the sky unless you know to look for it.

They need a more powerful light source, as the one they are displaying today is quite limp.

[okrednk]

Yeah, that would be cool if you were a visitor driving in on I-40 and seen that green glow in the sky, it might make some people get off the interstate and go see what the heck it is.

[russellc]

The light is a single 10,000 watt xenon bulb. The beam of light at the Luxor in Vegas is actually 45 different bulbs that are 7,000 watts each totaling 315,000 watts.

[plmccordj]

Did it ever come on last night and if it did what time was it? I want to go check it out and I waited an hour last night from 7:00 to 8:00 and it never came on.

Paul

[John]

They say it is a billion candlepower or something like that, but I would like to see it improved upon.

In all the renderings and discussion, it was sold as something that would be just like the twin beacons of light coming up from the WTC site in NYC. It is hardly visible at all.

Maybe that is the strongest they can get it to be and still have green light. I know they say that green signifies life, but I think it is more of a play off of PHF's main color.

A landmark it is not if it isn't visible from further than 1/4 mile away.

[russellc]

pjmccordj, I didn't go by last night, but it was on tonight when I drove by at 6:15 pm.

[okrednk]

Does anyone have any photos from a night perspective.

[diesel]

has anyone brought this point up to the builder or does he just think its bright as hell?

[Patrick]

This is the pic OKCBusiness.com had posted. Doesn't look like a real pic though.

[Patrick]

Hmmm...the article made this statement:

"By night, with over one million foot candles of power extending 5,498 feet into the sky, Oklahoma City's Beacon of Hope will be seen for miles around, lifting above the city skyline. "

Hmmm...guess the "miles around" part isn't completely accurate.

[Patrick]

"Beacon of Hope, city's latest landmark, brightens the sky


By Jim Killackey
The Oklahoman

Oklahoma City's newest and most illuminating landmark came to life at 7 p.m. Wednesday when a 100-foot tall, monolithic sculpture beamed a powerful green light upward more than a mile into the night sky. The green light goes on for the first time Wednesday night from the new Beacon of Hope landmark northeast of downtown Oklahoma City. The light extends more than a mile into the night sky and will be on every night.
A switch flipped on the distinctive Beacon of Hope after more than 150 community leaders counted down from 10 then joyfully gazed at the monument to five founders of the Oklahoma Health Center northeast of downtown.

"This is a modern symbol that we're a modern city," local architect Rand Elliott said of the massive white cylinder designed to be a gateway to the 300-acre medical complex.

The beacon, Elliott said, symbolizes a "sense of energy" as it "lights the way to an ever-brighter future" for Oklahoma City. Elliott was the Beacon of Hope's lead designer.

In its own way, the Beacon of Hope is the kind of landmark comparable to the St. Louis Arch and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, said James Pickel, co-owner of Smith and Pickel Construction Co.

The Beacon of Hope, Pickel said, ties together the Oklahoma Health Center, downtown Oklahoma City and St. Anthony Hospital.

Part of plaza tribute
Four years in the making, the steel sculpture is in Founders Plaza at Stiles Park, NE 8 and Stiles.

Founders Plaza is a tribute to the five founders of the Oklahoma Health Center -- Harvey P. Everest, E. K. Gaylord, Dean A. McGee, Dr. Don O'Donoghue and Stanton L. Young. They traveled to Houston in 1965 to visit the Texas Medical Center.

Inspired and determined to create a world-class medical complex, the civic leaders and those who followed them helped the Oklahoma Health Center emerge during the next 40 years.

Young is the only living member of the five. He flipped the switch on.

Clayton I. Bennett, president of the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation, termed the Beacon of Hope a monument and "a magnificent piece of art."

Stiles Park is believed to be the oldest park in Oklahoma, dedicated on Aug. 29, 1901. The 200-foot circular park is named after Capt. Daniel Frazier Stiles, an Oklahoma Territory police officer.

On most nights, the Beacon of Hope's green light will be seen from miles away, officials said. During the day, the monolith is visible from the Centennial Expressway.

Because Oklahoma City suffered from the Oil Bust in the 1980s and the Murrah Building bombing in 1995, the Beacon of Hope is symbolic of the city's resiliency and future aspirations, Pickel said.

The beacon will be daily from dusk to midnight or 2 a.m., officials said.

The luminous green beam, Elliott said Wednesday, helps highlight the healing nature of the Oklahoma Health Center, considered the state's premier resource for patient care, medical education, research and technology.

"The medical center complex is all about hope," commented Hershel Lamirand, executive director of the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation.

Other elements of the park, which had its grand opening Wednesday, include five stone rings and five flowering trees recognizing the five original visionaries.

Twenty perimeter trees acknowledge the committee that supported the medical center's original vision. One large oak tree that has survived the ages still stands to help those who visit remember the original history of the park, officials said.

The Founders Plaza is a project of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission. "

[Patrick]

Beacon of Hope

Where: Founders Plaza at Stiles Park, NE 8 and Stiles, northeast of downtown Oklahoma City, east of the Centennial Expressway.

Cost: $700,000, all private funds.

Height: 100 feet.

Diameter: Eight feet.

Weight: 19,000 lbs.

Beacon color: White.

Beam color: Green.

Beam strength: 1 billion candle power.

Beam altitude: 5,498 feet, more than one mile.

When on/off: 365 days a year from about dusk to midnight or 2 a.m. Remains on during rain, snow or fog.

From concept to reality: Four years.

[fromdust]

i was driving on 44 last night and i couldnt see a light downtown.

[zuluwarrior0760]

part of the problem is most of the comparisons to other beams
such as the Luxor etc....have been "white light only" including
the world trade center beacon.....

This 10,000 watt xenon bulb does "NOT" have a billion candlepower...
but it does have a couple of million......

The problem comes when you put a dichroic green filter on top of it, which
subtracts elements of white light to make green (or actually to show
what green is left from white).......

this reduces approximately 65 percent of the potential output of white light.....

bottom line though is WHO CARES if it can be seen for miles........I think
we should be asking if it can be seen from Stiles Park, which it most
certainly can......

I can also assure you it can be seen from Rand Elliott's office door......

[Karried]

Can it be changed to white easily or would that be cost prohibitive?

[zuluwarrior0760]

Absolutely it could be changed easily to white.......except for one thing

The designer decided it should be green....

There are all sorts of other elements in that park that are worth seeing
as well.....I would go walk around before passing summary judgment
by just viewing the whole thing from I-40...

[brianinok]

I drove down the Broadway Ext'n/I-235 from Edmond last night, and I did not see it until I was exiting on 6th. And it puny even from that range.

[JOHNINSOKC]

I don't see how they can say that this is OKC's equivalent to the St. Louis Arch. I drove by on Friday night around 8:30 and it looked like the farthest it went up was a couple of hundred feet. Plus, it was VERY dim. What a joke! I was impressed with the actual beacon itself where you could clearly see the green light. I envisioned the same type of light that was used for the symbolizing of the twin towers in NYC. I wonder if the architect and whoever else was involved in this project is aware of the lack of a beam of light that is supposed to be a skyline changer for OKC. If I'm not mistaken, there was originally supposed to be two lights, one on either side of I-235. At any rate, this is not what most people were envisioning. With all the good news in OKC lately, this was a dud. I really hope that a developer comes in and buys the First National building soon and turns it into condos or apartments. That one building being as vacant as it is really hurts the downtown office occupancy. If you take that building off the market, we might actually see new construction soon on a new signature tower. Why they are keeping that building on the office market is beyond me! It's been many years and nothing has been done, so I say we either get rid of it altogether or find another use for it. If a developer can transform the former Citizens Tower into condos, then I don't believe it is impossible to do the same for the First National building. Aside from the airport, our downtown needs a new tower of at least 50 stories.