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Lighting Up Montpelier!

Thanks to extraordinary community effort, Downtown Montpelier has largely recovered from

the devastating flood this summer. Its commercial center remains fragile, however, and needs

your help.

To attract residents and tourists downtown, make walking in the city safer during the winter

months, and to celebrate the resilience and recovery of the capital city, Montpelier Alive is

working to illuminate up to seven historic bridges along the Winooski River and its North

Branch.

In the winter of 2023, as part of a pilot project, Montpelier Alive, Montpelier’s downtown

revitalization non-profit organization, lit up the Langdon Street bridge. Twinkling lights wrapped

around the steel trusses illuminated the center of town and reflected off the river. What was

once a dark side street became a magnet for holiday shoppers, evening dining and a vibrant

music scene. The sparkling bridge declared that Montpelier was open for business and

welcomed all to the party!

Montpelier Alive is collaborating with local historians and naturalists to use Montpelier’s unique

history to inform each bridge’s illumination design. For instance, the Rialto bridge will be

underlit to highlight the North Branch River that runs beneath two lanes of traffic, two

sidewalks and an entire building on State Street! The trusses of the Granite Street bridge will be

lined with large white bulbs, to highlight the engineering of the structure and mimic the rivets

holding the steel beams together. The impact of seven bridges, each uniquely lit, will transfer

Montpelier’s cityscape this winter.

Katie Trautz, Executive Director of Montpelier Alive, believes "Illuminating Montpelier's Bridges

will not only be impactful for our downtown economy as visitors from near and far come to

witness the lights, but the project will act as a metaphor for community resiliency, bringing our

town together for a better future."

This initiative will not require Montpelier tax dollars. Donations and grants will provide the

funds necessary for building the electric infrastructure, the services of the New England Holiday

Lighting Company, the professionals responsible for the magnificent Shelburne Museum Winter

Lights display, and the modest amount of electricity required for the energy efficient LED lights.

Lighting will be limited to times when downtown restaurants and theaters are open to allow

dark skies for sleeping and enjoying the night stars.

Help Montpelier Alive light up the capital city this winter! If the campaign reaches its $13,350

goal by May 31, 2024 the Montpelier Bridge Illumination Project will receive a matching grant of

$26,650 from DHCD’s Better Places program. Click HERE for project details and to DONATE.

The focus of the Better Places grant is on the three bridges that illuminate downtown: the

Rialto, Langdon and School Street bridges. Any remaining funds will help build the

infrastructure to also light the Bailey Avenue, Taylor Street, and Main Street bridges that cross

the Winooski River. Montpelier Alive plans to continue raising funds for all seven bridges over

the next year. For more information on the Bridge project, visit Montpelier Alive’s webpage:

montpelieralive.com/bridges

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Discover Montpelier

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Downtown Event Grants

Montpelier Alive works to create a vibrant and livable Montpelier by celebrating its heart and soul: its downtown. A great way to celebrate is to bring community together through events!

Often, we’re asked to help run events for other organizations who may want to come into the downtown. While we love to see events come to Downtown Montpelier, we do not have the capacity and budget to get directly involved in implementing them. Although we put on our own series of events, taking on other events, even when they include really fun ideas, is generally outside of our ability and scope. Please know that just because we can’t organize your event doesn’t mean we are not in support of you and your efforts. In addition to our equipment loan program, and access to our downtown event planning handbook, one of the many ways we support events is through our Downtown Event Grant Program!

2024 Downtown Grant Event Awardees

The 2024 recipients are:

All Together Now, All Species Day on May 5th,
Good Beginnings of Central Vermont, It Takes a Village on May 11th,
Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools Race Against Racism on May 25th,
Pride Center of Vermont, Montpelier Pride Fest on May 31st,
Shidaa Projects Inc. Juneteenth and collaborative drumming performances on June 19th,
Monteverdi Music School, Make Music Day on June 21st (Summer Solstice!),
Satta Sound, Langdon Street Block Party on July 6th,
Maple Roots Music Festival on July 27th,
Kellogg Hubbard Library, Fall for the Library on October 5th,
Montpelier Community Gospel Choir, Montpelier Martin Luther King Celebration on January 19th, 2025.

Stay tuned for our 2024 New Year's Eve Event Grant announcement later this year!