Cleveland is about to get a lot brighter come this spring.
On April 16, following Destination Cleveland’s annual meeting that day, Illuminate CLE will officially debut to the city after a string of soft launches during major events in the recent year.
The multi-million-dollar, large-scale lighting installation from Destination Cleveland that has now been in the works for about a year will light up Public Square every night thereafter.
Designed to include soft light displays on buildings and aerial visual effects, there will also be programming to tie into special events.
Destination Cleveland has pointed to Indianapolis, Montreal and other cities that have deployed lighting installations to showcase their cities in a different shade come nightfall, with the added benefit of improved safety conditions thanks to well-lit areas and more pedestrian traffic.
But don’t get Destination Cleveland wrong, the main motivation is to create something memorable.
“How do we take a place that already is wonderful and make it more desirable to be used after dark?” David Gilbert, Destination Cleveland’s CEO, told Cleveland.com in 2023. “We want to take advantage of the architecture that we already have, with something as beautiful as Public Square and Euclid Avenue and put icing on the cake.”
Residents and visitors can expect not only soft lighting but thematic “shows” tied to various events and holidays.
Vincent Lighting Systems, which is based in Solon and installed the Terminal Tower’s artistic lighting, is creating the Illuminate CLE project.
Funding has come from the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, the Cleveland Foundation, KeyBank, Sherwin Williams, PNC, TurnDev, KJK and Huntington.
A second phase, which would require more funding and permits, could include Playhouse Square, Euclid Ave. and Mall B sometime down the line.
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
This article appears in Feb 13-26, 2025.
