Toronto’s new Trump Tower has recently been firing up the rod of light that runs its entire height, ending in a spire. A mix of bold flashing colours with a weird thing on top, the skyscraper light appears to be the manifestation of Donald Trump himself.

The skylines of Dubai and Shanghai are famous for their glowing, flashing buildings, but in conservative Toronto, Trump’s light-up has elicited howls of protest, similar to those that greeted the CN Tower when it LED’d itself into our dilated eyeballs a few years back. Yet, CN’s colourful swirling and spurting has since grown on Toronto to the point that we now we seem to like it.

Our city is in desperate need of more light though. When out at night it’s hard to see the city in the dark murk. And despite popular opinion that might suggest otherwise, we’ve got some good buildings that deserve nighttime exposure.

Not just for their sake, but for ours. The city is the stage where our lives play out and it should be lit as such.

Paris, “The City of Light,” didn’t happen by accident. Parisians deliberately lit it. Last December I stood in front of their Opera House, resplendent in what seemed like 500,000 watts of Klieg lighting, those ultrapowerful flood lights that film directors use to turn night into day. The building seemed both unreal, like a film set, and the most important place on earth. Lighting says, “We think this is important.”

Over in London, Harrods department store is done up like an haute couture Honest Ed’s with hundreds of small bulbs accenting its architectural details.

The most exciting aisle in Canadian Tire is the one with the outdoor lights, where amateur lighting directors can floodlight their bungalows or string 12-volt cords up trees like people in Rosedale do.

Toronto does have a few public buildings that are well lit. The Summerhill LCBO gets the full Edison treatment, and both the old Masonic Temple at Davenport and Yonge (now MTV) and Maple Leaf Gardens (now Loblaws and Ryerson) are lit with the precision and efficiency of new low-power LED lighting. Ryerson’s new Image Arts building, at Gould and Bond streets, has a top floor that undulates with rich deep colours at night.

Down in the St. Lawrence Market and Old Town neighbourhood, a pilot project was launched in 2009 to light the market hall and buildings along Front St. The result makes a nighttime stroll feel downright European.

On June 21 a bold experiment was tried at St. James Cathedral. The St. Lawrence Market Neighbourhood Business Improvement Area — along with the International Alliance Of Theatrical Stage Employees — conspired to light the entire church with day-for-night film lights.

Rollo Myers, an Old Town heritage activist and resident involved in the project, says, “The unlit cathedral is a hole in the urban fabric. It’s a landmark building that should be seen. And lighting the cathedral helps light adjoining St James Park.”

Agreed. Toronto needs projects like this across the city and they should be permanent.

Shawn Micallef writes every Friday about life in the GTA. Wander the streets with him on Twitter @shawnmicallef

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