Milwaukee’s iconic Hoan Bridge will soon shine out to Lake Michigan.
On Monday, in honor of Milwaukee’s citywide 414 Day celebration, Light the Hoan announced that the installation of the east side lights on the bridge will begin this month. The bridge will be lit on both sides at last.
“Lighting the east side will extend the joy and visibility of this now-iconic landmark to even more people across the city,” Light the Hoan said.
The project is expected to be completed by this June, just in time for the many summer events at Henry Meier Festival Park – one of the relatively few areas of Milwaukee east of the bridge that will be able to see the new lights, along with parts of Bay View as well as the lakefront attractions like Discovery World and the Milwaukee Art Museum. Ian Abston, co-founder of Light the Hoan, told Milwaukee Magazine he’s hoping that the lights can sync up to Summerfest performances at the American Family Amphitheater in the Hoan’s shadow.
Light the Hoan executive director Erika Smith said the June completion of the project is a major priority: “We know how much this means to the city, and we’re working hard to make it a reality.”
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The bridge was first illuminated in October 2020, and the thousands of color-changing LED lights have cemented the bridge as a symbol of community pride. The west side was completed after four years of fundraising, but the plan was always to deck out both sides in lights.
“Sometimes getting stuff done in Milwaukee is hard,” Abston said, “and we thought the minute we got one side up that the corporations would come out and understand and fund it all and we wouldn’t have to do much work. That just wasn’t the case.”
Light the Hoan recently completed the last $1.2 million of fundraising, bringing the amount raised to light the entire bridge to $4.6 million. Every dollar raised goes to the materials and the labor needed for the project, Smith said.
Luckily, Light the Hoan didn’t need to fork over any more cash due to the recent 145% tariff rate on China and other countries by the Trump administration.
“One of the things that we did decide as a board was purchasing those lights early this year, prior to anything going into effect,” Smith said. “We wanted to avoid the delays, because sometimes [there are] delays in shipments of LEDs, as well as making sure we weren’t going to be incurring any additional price gouging.”
They’ve got a stock of bulbs available for replacements, too, Smith said.
Countless bulbs represent a donation or dedication from an individual, organization or business, lighting up the Milwaukee sky.
“The east side lighting is more than just a visual enhancement – it’s about impact,” Light the Hoan said. “The Hoan Bridge has become a symbol of light, and this expansion will allow Light the Hoan to engage even more people, create new opportunities for interactive programming, and continue using the bridge to highlight Milwaukee’s brightest stories.”
A lighting ceremony for the bridge’s east side is planned, with a date to be announced.
The east-facing lights open new potential partners and revenue streams for Light the Hoan, Abston said, considering the cruise ships and air traffic that approach Milwaukee from Lake Michigan.
“The [west] side is for us; we wake up and look at it and see it before we go to bed. That is really for the local community,” Abston said. “The other side is for the world. That is where a national and international audience is going to see Milwaukee.”
Additional reporting by Rich Rovito.
