THUNDER BAY — The Boulevard Lake Dam’s colourful nightly light display needs a bit of a touch-up.
Several of the LED lights added to the Boulevard Lake Dam during renovations last year are experiencing technical issues, the city has confirmed.
Project engineer Mike Vogrig said a fix for the issue will be fully covered under a two-year warranty on the work.
The city discovered around Christmas there were problems with three of the light fixtures, he said.
“The contractor and their sub-consultants have been made aware of the issues with the lights,” he said. “Whether that’s something to do with the installation or whether it’s the fixtures themselves and they have to go back to the supplier to get new fixtures, that’s being looked at right now.”
It’s not yet clear exactly when repairs will take place, he said.
“Sometimes a contractor will correct issues as they come up, and sometimes they’ll mobilize once and correct all the issues at the end of the warranty period. It’s really up to them as to when they do it, we just make them aware of any issues and deficiencies we see during our inspections.”
The refurbished dam’s new LED light display was activated for the first time in pastel colours to mark Easter last year, generating excitement on social media.
The system was one part of an $8.5 million project that began in 2020 and also included extensive concrete repairs, replacing post-tension tendons for structural stability, and new mechanical gates that will allow for more refined dam operations.
It also widened the walkway running above the dam, which reopened in October of 2021, and added a new viewing platform.
