Gateways – Canal Street Towers

A vital part of Holyoke’s and Nueva Esperanza’s ‘El Corazon de Holyoke’ beautification project, ‘Gateways’ is one of several vibrant public art projects installed throughout the Main Street area.

Gateways features dynamic, colorful lighting on two historic electrical towers that once provided support for a staggering number of electrical cables that were run to the mills in and around the downtown Canal District. Rusty and unused, the towers became the perfect sculptural canvas to uplight, creating the beacons of light envisioned by the El Corazon de Holyoke committee.

The towers are comprised of a thin, lattice-like structure with a very dark surface. The vibrancy, intensity, and consistent color rendering between different Color Kinetics fixtures was needed to illuminate those surfaces with an exciting wash of color-changing light.

“As a designer, consistent color rendering and product reliability are crucial to any installation. Using multiple products from the Color Kinetics portfolio, it was important to us and the client that the color between fixtures and towers be consistent.” – Ron Kuszmar, Port Lighting Systems

Color Kinetics ColorReach Powercore, gen2, RGBA (2 pcs) (now specified with ReachElite High Output Powercore, RGBA) and Graze MX4 Powercore, RGBW, 10° x 60° Beam Angle, 1219 mm (4 ft) (4 pcs) illuminate the larger of the two towers. The smaller tower is outfitted with Graze MX4 Powercore, RGBW, 10° x 60° Beam Angle, 1219 mm (4 ft) (4 pcs) and Blast Powercore, RGBW (4 pcs).

Color Kinetics iPlayer3 provides powerful light show storage and playback capabilities to each tower, while Color Kinetics ColorPlay 3 authoring and configuration software enables users to create and manage light shows with spectacular and fully customizable effects. Color Kinetics Data Enabler Pro delivers integrated data and power to the lighting system to both towers.

Completed October 2022, the comprehensive, end-to-end Color Kinetics lighting system provides an effervescent, colorful, and constantly shifting beacon of joy that anchors the two ends of Main Street and helps define and celebrate the surrounding Puerto Rican and Latinx neighborhoods.