The iconic San Diego-Coronado Bridge could celebrate its 50th anniversary in three years with more than just candles on a cake.

The San Diego Unified Port District commissioners approved a new policy Tuesday aimed at raising $8 million from a revival of port tenant construction projects to light the span in a changing color LED glow.

“I think it’s time to bring this project off the shelf,” said Chairman Marshall Merrifield, blaming the delays on the aftermath of the recession when port finances dipped and construction slowed.

The port held a design competition nearly 10 years ago that resulted in a design by British artist Peter Fink. His team proposed bathing the piers of the bridge in light, using low-energy LED bulbs that change colors.


Port art curator Yvonne Wise said Fink is ready to restart the design process once funding is in place.

Four years ago, the port hoped to have project done in time for last year’s Panama-California Exposition centennial celebration. Now the bridge’s half-century birthday is the target date.

The new policy allows developers of projects costing $5 million or more to contribute all or part of their 1 percent requirement for public art to the bridge project. Merrifield said there is enough development in the works to cover the full cost. He said the falling costs of LEDs may keep the overall budget at or below the original estimate.

“We have a lot of opportunities for raising funds for bridge lighting,” Merrifield said.


They include BAE Systems’s $104 million dry dock project heading toward a construction start in Barrio Logan, and a second Lane Field hotel due to break ground soon at the foot of Broadway and expected to cost $150 million or more.

The $13 million redevelopment of Anthony’s Fish Grotto and planned billion-dollar replacements of Seaport Village and Harbor Island car rental lots also could result in millions more in possible lighting funding.

Wise said she will return to the board within three months to outline the design and approval process. She estimated that phase of the project at up to $1 million.

So far, the port has set aside only $75,000 for the bridge but it has $1.2 million in unspent art funds that could be used as well.


“I think this board should full-throated get behind it and get it done,” said commissioner Dan Malcolm.

Commissioner Bob Nelson also suggested searching for a “signature donor” to bridge any funding gap.

Garry Bonelli, who represents Coronado on the board, said he hopes the project could include some special lighting treatment at the former bridge toll plaza that would greet motorists as they arrive in the Crown City.

Merrifield made the lighting project a key goal in his state of the port address earlier this year, noting that enthusiasm has not ebbed for the project. He spoke of coordinating San Diego Symphony Pops Concerts performances with light shows at the bridge.


“As we drop the green flag today on this, I would encourage staff to make fund-raising visits to see what we can do quickly,” he said.

Meanwhile, county Supervisor Greg Cox has been pursuing parallel plans to add a pedestrian walkway beneath the bridge’s roadway — something that could cost tens of millions of dollars but possibly be funded by Caltrans. The port said that project should have no effect on the lighting plan.