Aside from the CN Tower, the Luminous Veil, which spans the Bloor Viaduct, is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Toronto’s nighttime skyline, but the public art display isn’t functioning the way it was intended to and the lack of dazzling lights on the horizon is prompting many to call for improvements.
Unveiled in time for the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games, the Luminous Veil added hundreds of LED lights that react to changes in wind direction and temperature shifts. On top of the shimmering light displays, the installation adds a public art element to the safety barriers that were installed years prior.
But the lights haven’t been functioning as intended and a jaunt across the bridge connecting Bloor Street to Danforth Avenue at night reveals several portions sitting in darkness while others twinkle around them.
“It’s never quite worked properly because there’s always sections of the lights that are out,” said Coun. Paula Fletcher, who has been hearing complaints about the issues for quite some time.
This week, Fletcher put forward a motion at the city’s Economic and Social Development Committee asking city staff to come up with a solution.
Fletcher also points out that when the lights were originally installed, there wasn’t a mechanism included to report malfunctions. Due to this oversight, the city often doesn’t know there are issues unless residents phone 311.
“Let’s get this back up and running a hundred per cent and not rely on the public to phone in and say it’s not working,” Fletcher said.
A Toronto spokesperson told Global News that in 2021, the city entered into a two-year service agreement with a company tasked with maintaining the Luminous Veil. But even with coordinated monitoring, the system continued to experience malfunctions.
At the end of the $36,200 contract, the city was told the custom lighting elements were reaching the end of their life cycle and would need to be replaced.
“For years now … panels fade constantly to the point now they’re more black panels than illuminated panels,” said Albert Stortchak outside his antique lighting shop on Broadview Avenue.
Stortchak, chair of the Broadview Danforth BIA, said its members called in a lot of favours and raised $25,000 to help get the display up and running. He said the city tends to initiate projects with lofty goals and objectives, only to let them decay over time, disappointing those who advocated for them.
“In this case, the luminous part of the veil was a metaphoric and literal light to be shed on the issue of mental illness and suicide prevention, and what message are we sending when we let the lights go out?” he said.
Fletcher’s motion at committee will now have staff reporting back in September with potential solutions. The Toronto-Danforth councillor said she wants the display back up and running in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Stortchak and his BIA membership want the city to ensure that when sports fans vacate the city this time, the Luminous Veil is properly maintained.