Bridge Illumination Panel Kicks Off Fundraising

Memorial Bridge Illumination Sub-Committee members believe they will raise $60,000 towards their $80,000 goal to light up the new span by the end of this year.

The panel held a press conference at Kittery Town Hall on Tuesday morning to officially kick-off their fundraising campaign and some of its members predicted the process would go very quickly so businesses and individuals can take advantage of the current tax year's deductions.

"We would like very much to have this be a very short, fast campaign," said Ben Porter, who serves as the sub-committee's co-chairman.

Representatives from the Town of Kittery, Maine, the City of Portsmouth, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation and the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce all attended the sub-committee's press conference Tuesday to show their support for the project.

Doug Bates, president of the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, said the goal to raise the first $60,000 by the end of this year "is not out out of the realm."

He said the Portsmouth area managed to raise a quarter of a million dollars in 2008 to hold a commissioning ceremony for the USS New Hampshire submarine.

Peter Sommsich, who also co-chairs the sub-committee, said a number of Portsmouth area businesses and companies have been contacted to see if they will pledge any money towards the project. He said rotary clubs in Portsmouth, Kittery and other southern Maine communities have also been contacted and one rotary club he would not name has pledged their support.

Porter said the fundraising compaign will focus on getting retail businesses in Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine and other communities directly affected by the new Memorial Bridge project to contribute. He said companies such as Sprague Energy in Newington will also be approached because they reflect maritime businesses located along the Piscataqua River with a vested interest in the new Memorial Bridge project.

Sub-committee member Ruth Eppard of Portsmouth said to date the panel has only sought pledges from people for the project that would eventually be turned into checks that would then go to the Portsmouth Historical Society first and then into a trust created by the City of Portsmouth. The money would then go to the New Hampshire Department of Transportation oversee the installation of the energy efficient, LED lighting.

Eppard said $10,000 has been raised toward the $80,000 goal thus far and the sub-committee will distribute Illuminate the Memorial Bridge stickers that Portsmouth area businesses can display in their shop windows to promote the campaign.

John Powell, a lighting consultant from Cambridge, Mass., said two companies from Boston, Color Kinetics, a division of Phillips, and Lumenpulse, an independent firm, have expressed interest in bidding on the illumination project in Portsmouth. He said Color Kinetics has worked with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Boston Public Works to illuminate the Leonard Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston.

Sommsich said the sub-committee also intends to go with LED lighting that will comply with New Hampshire's dark skies laws so it will not generate any unwanted light pollution.

Residents and businesses that wish to pledge donations for the project can contact Rose Eppard at  Eppard@usa.net. For general information about the project, please contact Peter Somssich, 34 Swett Ave. Portsmouth, NH 03801, tel. 603-436-5221.  Additional information is also available by going to the Memorial Bridge Project website.