Return of bright art installation in Vancouver’s West End frustrates residents

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — People living in Vancouver’s West End are fed up with light pollution caused by a large art installation in their neighbourhood — keeping residents awake and wondering why it’s there in the first place.

The light-up screen outside the Safeway on Davie Street emits a green light so bright Kelly Grunsell, a resident in the area, compares it to a baseball field. And on Thursday, the installation was left on all night by accident according to the Westbank Corporation — the operator of the 15 light panel art installation that was unveiled last year.

Safeway, why you gotta do this to us again?!?! from r/vancouver

Grunsell pays a pretty penny for her apartment nearby, and she says it’s extremely disrespectful that this keeps happening.

“It just really reinforces the whole idea that you don’t matter, your money does. And especially after … everything that’s happened, oh my god, give us a break,” she says.

But this is not the first time the installation stayed on all night. Grunsell says this happened last spring too and that was the last time it was turned on until now.

“Don’t forget, they’re not turning it on at three o’clock in the afternoon and everybody seeing this one light display and [someone] forgot to turn it off. They’re turning it on at eight or nine o’clock at night,” she says.

Unfortunately, she says there’s also a lot of noise from construction that’s been ongoing for years.

Westbank has apologized and says it was a mistake after some testing and the developers working on a 24-hour monitoring system.

“It doesn’t make any sense from the waste of energy, and a waste of money … I’m absolutely all for art but turn it off at [10:00 p.m.]. People live here residentially. They built the apartment buildings around [the installation]. Why would you put a block-long light display on overnight in residential areas?”