[alon504]

I hope not...

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070521_wz_lightsout.8f6a9683.html

[Saddle Man]

I always turn off the lights when nobodys using it too.

[KevinFromTexas]

That's kind of stupid, though. Those neon and argon lights use little power. Also other than a handful of buildings, Dallas has a relatively dark skyline. It's just the few grand landmarks that stand out so powerfully that gives it it's punch. Even Fountain Place is dark.

I hope that's thrown out, though, because Dallas has one of the best lit skylines in the state. Also that's kind of a bad idea, think of what it'll do to the future of decorative lighting. Architects and building planners might not worry much with spending much money, (or any), creating interesting and decorative lighting schemes for their buildings.

What they should be doing is pushing for more energy effecient methods of lighting buildings. 300 West Sixth an office tower in downtown Austin has motion sensor lights in the parking garage so that they only come on when a car enters or a person enters the garage to leave.

Still, even the Texas Capitol goes dark at midnight. Only the dome remains lit. The wings of the building have their lights turned off. Also the UT Tower shuts off its lights at midnight, but that's mostly due to the fact that it's surrounded by highrise dormitories.

[anyiliang]

I dont think it would really matter. As the article said, the lights would be turned off from 2am to 6am. Most major cities have regulations like this. Hong Kong turns most of it major building exterior lights off at around midnite. Plus the only people that are going to enjoy seeing the BOA building lights at that time are mostly drunks leaving from bars. lol

[austlar1]

I dont think it would really matter. As the article said, the lights would be turned off from 2am to 6am. Most major cities have regulations like this. Hong Kong turns most of it major building exterior lights off at around midnite. Plus the only people that are going to enjoy seeing the BOA building lights at that time are mostly drunks leaving from bars. lol

Well, drunks need all the help they can get. Well-lit buildings make for useful landmarks, plus they're purty. Dumb idea!

[Metro Matt]

BOA's green argon lighting is already turned off every time a big storm hits I assume to keep from shorting out its seperate lights that make it appear as one continuous green outline from a far & causing "gaps" which is common on this particular building.

[maconahey]

Dallas will leave the lights on

City Council fails to support conservation plan


06:14 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 23, 2007
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
dlevinthal@dallasnews.com

It's lights out on Dallas' lights-out ordinance.

With barely any discussion, City Council members Wednesday acknowledged that there's little support for a proposed law requiring commercial buildings citywide to switch off most of their signage and ornamental lights between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m.

And in doing so, they sent the proposal to the council's Transportation and Environment Committee for further discussion.

"There's no will on the part of this council to turn the lights off," Mayor Laura Miller said.

"The thought behind it was good. There are a lot of things education-wise that we can do to encourage people to turn out lights," Transportation and Environment Committee Chairwoman Linda Koop said.

"I'd love to make a motion to kill this thing now," said council member Mitchell Rasansky before relenting and supporting a study.

Supporters of the ordinance, including Ms. Miller, pointed to its potential to slash power plant emissions that contribute to Dallas' notoriously dirty air.

But businesspeople generally objected to it, arguing that a darker city – even during the middle of the night – would dampen commerce and invite crime. As written, the ordinance could have forced some of Dallas' landmarks to go dark, such as the blinking bulbs of Reunion Tower and the glowing green argon tubes running the height of the 71-story Bank of America Plaza.

To make that point, District 12 City Council member Ron Natinsky distributed flashlights to his colleagues before Wednesday's council meeting.

"We get the message, Mr. Natinsky," Ms. Miller said as she switched her light on and off.

Dan Blizzard, chairman of business organization DowntownDallas, says the council acted prudently.

"Darkening downtown in the dead of night just sends the wrong message to people who want to live here and businesses who may want to move here," said Mr. Blizzard, who also serves as vice president of operations for Belo Corp., The Dallas Morning News' parent company.