[Source: Teya Vitu, Tucson Citizen] -- The vote for color choice was too close to call last night for the $350 million Rainbow Bridge. Town hall participants split between light orange and dark copper for the proposed arch that would suspend the Arizona Science Center over Interstate 10 and the Santa Cruz River. The polling will continue on the Internet. The public more closely embraced the 50-foot-wide walkway on the roof of the center that replaced a much narrower previous design that renowned architect Rafael Viñoly described as a "catwalk." Viñoly described the fabric covered walkway as a park setting that could have "kiosks of food, places to sit, and shading."People also liked Viñoly's ideas to illuminate the 370-foot-tall arch with colored lights at night. "To me, to be able to see a rainbow every evening would be wonderful," said Teresa Toro, a Tucson native who is a counselor at the downtown Davis Bilingual Learning Center. The town hall at the Berger Performing Arts Center unveiled design modifications Viñoly made in response to public reaction to his earlier design, where people complained about the stark white color, ungainly buildings at both ends, and unsightly views of the freeway. Viñoly's new design builds spiral pedestrian approach ramps into berms that blocks out the freeway. The landscape also partially shelters the IMAX theater, planetarium and observatory that have been moved off the bridge and onto land at both ends.
The audience largely welcomed the Rainbow Bridge. However, a large number also leaned more toward history than futuristic design. "To me this just overwhelms anything we want to see," said Gayle Hartmann, president of the Tucson Presidio Trust for Historic Preservation. "I would like to see something more European, something low, with tiles." [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
