I've notice this summer that the CN Tower is not lighting up the beautiful Toronto skyline as it has in previous years. According to the towers official website;

"During the spring and fall migrations, birds tend to travel in large numbers, often flying at night or in bad weather. During these times, the Tower shuts off all unnecessary lights which would otherwise attract and endanger the birds."

However, it is now August and the lights are still turned off at night (well except for the flashing lights for planes).

Anyone know why this is so?

Who knows.

Why no lights on CN Tower???

Perhaps, because the owners are STINGY!?!?!?!?! It's really a shame,,,,here is a landmark, not just a Toronto landmark, but a Canadian one. A Tower for all Canadians to take pride in. Many say the CN Tower is not globally recognized (True&false), however it is an icon and a must for any tourist visiting Toronto. Why can't visitors from afar get a light show OR EVEN a fire work show (hoping the Tower can sustain such punishment), for the outside viewing public.

Think of the endless possibilities and the profile that would come along with it!!!! Toronto has grown a lot but it sure has a lot more to learn!!!

I agree if anyone wants to know how to maintain a world class tower, visit New Zealand's sky tower in Auckland those people do a great job lighting the tower with different colours. Toronto needs to light up all that concrete hope they do.....

Who says the CN Tower is not globally recognized? Before I immigrated to Canada, and before I had any idea that I would move to Canada I knew what the CN Tower is, and I would venture to guess if I asked most people in my old country, they would know the CN Tower too (and this is a rather smallish Eastern European country...).

Having said that, CN needs some light. In fact, I find Toronto is pretty bad with lighting up its treasured and notable buildings in dramatic light. This is something we need to improve on.

the owners are probably cheap bastards who dont want to pay high electrical bills...there really isnt another why they wouldnt just light it up

There's always that excuse with the birds migrating, here in NYC, they light up the ESB till around midnight then turn it off and just leave a dot at the tip of the antenna.

Does anyone have a good pic of it when it was lit up? I cant seem to find one on Google.

^^ Yah I was trying to find one also.

i found a couple...the first two might just be light coming off of Skydome, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like with lit up...the last one is just a lame attempt of lighting it up


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v339/drjoe12/116235413fGlQqS_ph.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v339/drjoe12/cn_tower_at_night.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v339/drjoe12/25650049.jpg

Oh my god thats awesome!! They need those lights back on!! You should prostest... I would but I live on the west so..

I forgot - did trizec ever sell the thing?

http://www.fototur.com/canada/toronto/539+5310700+CN_Tower.jpg
http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/images_123/skyline_night3_123.jpg
http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/photos/cn_tower_interval_1.jpg
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/images5/CNtowerlightning.jpg
http://www.travelwithirene.com/Beauty/%A6h%AD%DB%A6h/CN%20Tower4.JPG http://cemail2.ce.ntu.edu.tw/photo/tower/tower5bCN%20Tower,%20Toronto%20(%20553m%20).jpg
http://mlegras.free.fr/canada/toronto/CN_Tower_3_1024.jpg
^Multi-coloured?

http://www.iw721.org/gallery/historical/cn_tower_shots/raw/charbonneau_load_up.jpg




http://www-lehre.inf.uos.de/~sblohm/canada/fotos/toronto/to01.jpg
^They do a good job of lighting the skydome, I've seen Green and Purple.

Trizec Canada, owner of the CN Tower, announced on December 17th, 2003 that it is selling the landmark property to Canada Lands Company, a crown corporation and the tower's original owner. The landmark property was sold to Canada Lands for $35 million USD.

Oh my god thats awesome!! They need those lights back on!! You should prostest... I would but I live on the west so..

I wish there was a way, but no one will listen.

:(

You won't know if you could get the lights back on unless you tried.

Maybe someone should send an e-mail or letter wondering why the lights were turned off to see the explanation they'll give.

You can see how sad the lighting for the CN Tower is compared to the skydome.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/lcaudle/Wedding_pics/Misc/TorontoSkylineAtNight.jpg

Does anyone have pictures of when the CN Tower was lit up with spotlights last year the same day that the SARS concert was held? It never looked better.

There used to be florescent lighting along the sides of the elevator shafts. They have not lit them for at least 15 years. It looked very "1976."

Nice pics Skybean .... I really like this one:

http://mlegras.free.fr/canada/toronto/CN_Tower_3_1024.jpg

I know the answer to that, someone asked it when David Miller was on Pulse24, the person sounded quite angry.

Dib't remember the answer though. lol.

The Tower needs lights! We need a petition!

man, where do I begin? I have posted about this in the past here. It is disgusting that the tallest freeking building in the world sits in the dark every night. This is so old school Toronto.

Name a major city anywhere in the world, and they light those babies up loud and proud. Trizec is too freeking cheap! The City or whover should help as it SELLS our city! ( notice how angry I am getting?)

THe Dome looks magnificent, city place is lighting up etc, but our crown jewel just does nothing.

I wrote them about 2 years ago. I was told about the bird BS and that they have been looking for years for a way to light the thing and have yet to do anything.

I will sign, forward or even take down personally if you guys want to start something.

Ridiculous!

J

I couldn't have said it better myself. I agree with spasongs 100% !!!!!

I say they litter the tower with the good ol' Red and White baby!

Also, I still say they mount a huge fricken flag at the top of it. That'd be an impressive sight.

Why no lights on CN Tower???

Perhaps, because the owners are STINGY!?!?!?!?! It's really a shame,,,,here is a landmark, not just a Toronto landmark, but a Canadian one.

Good point... it's in fact, a WORLD landmark, even!!!

On a side note, re: the Sky Tower lighting in Auckland, Johannesburg just changed its Hillbrow Tower (previously lit like the CN Tower is now) and gave it new floodlighting and ring lighting up the main structure.

However, the CN Tower is classy and suits Toronto as it is now. It's a conservatively lit landmark, reminding us of days gone by in a changed Toronto.

I do, however, think it should have some lighting. Bring back the lights!

Maybe they'll light it again when the government treats the city with respect.

Apparently, the owners are concerned that the birds on their migrations would crash and die flying into the CN tower if the lights are turned off.

Now wouldn't that make more sense the other way around where the birds can SEE where they are going? But in the end it doesn't matter at all, the lights from the rest of the city is turned on anyways.

Yeah, but there are no bird migration during the summer and the tower was always lit in the summer. Actually, the tower was lit early this year in the winter months...but I haven't seen it lit for a while. And I would find it hard to believe that the tower is losing money and can't afford to put lights on considering it gets 2 million visitors a year.

Since our huge blackout a few summers ago I noticed that the lights at the CN Tower are not as bright and decorative as they used to be. So I thought it was to prevent the excessive use of energy. It was understandable, but after so long I am now disappointed every time I look at the CN Tower at night. What is the point of having the world’s largest free-standing structure if you can't even admire it at night and be proud!

I found at the Toronto Human Society website the following information:

“The CN Tower's management authority has been fully co-operative in extinguishing lights during avian migration periods. They are setting a good example of corporate responsibility for the welfare of our native wildlife.”

“Public relations departments should promote interest in darkening the Toronto skyline and tell the media, customers, staff and others why it is being done.”

How about if we try writing to the FIXER at the Toronto Star to get the CN Tower lights back ON? That might get us somewhere.

I am not saying that I don’t agree with saving the birds but I don't think this issue has to do entirely with preserving the wildlife. The CN Tower is an important symbol of Toronto and it is the most visited attraction by tourists that come to this city. I don’t understand why we can't have the CN Tower lights bright in the early night but dim the lights later on in the night/early morning. There must be a way…

the CN tower should invest in a timer...

but for real though, like people said, this is a Toronto landmark and it should be lit.
driving by downtown, passing by on the gardiner, the CN tower has an eerie look at night

it is sad that it is not lit up at night. id love it if the elevator shafts lit up all the way up!

my favorite is when the skydome is open during a game at night, the lights act like the worlds biggest spot light for the cn tower! i picked a couple pics i took to show it with the lights on, with the lights off and also with the lights off but with the dome open.

on
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/lowenbrau/island/moneve020.jpg

off
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/lowenbrau/island/niiight017.jpg

off but with the dome
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v680/lowenbrau/island/duskdawn011.jpg

Hmm, I don't think the Fixer can help us here. Isn't he in charge of smaller forgotten projects elsewhere?

man, where do I begin? I have posted about this in the past here. It is disgusting that the tallest freeking building in the world sits in the dark every night. This is so old school Toronto.

Name a major city anywhere in the world, and they light those babies up loud and proud. Trizec is too freeking cheap! The City or whover should help as it SELLS our city! ( notice how angry I am getting?)

THe Dome looks magnificent, city place is lighting up etc, but our crown jewel just does nothing.

I wrote them about 2 years ago. I was told about the bird BS and that they have been looking for years for a way to light the thing and have yet to do anything.

I will sign, forward or even take down personally if you guys want to start something.

Ridiculous!

J

How 'bout a mass petition from the skyscaper site that can be forwarded to inform the people at the CN Tower that interest is not only local but that there is world-wide concern to see our Canadian icon lit!

How 'bout a mass petition from the skyscaper site that can be forwarded to inform the people at the CN Tower that interest is not only local but that there is world-wide concern to see our Canadian icon lit!


Thats is great idea, and may hold some weight, how do we do it

lol its lit tonight~! maybe they read this ...

.....if they are, LIGHT IT UP MORE!! please :)

It hasn't been lit since that day. I guess they dont read this, lol

Hmm.... petition!

it has been lit most days since, but not til 10 or so for some reason. it cant be on a timer though cause it is never the same time and some nights its not lit at all. only the bright lights around the bottom of the observation deck are lit as well as the antenna, but not the shaft between the deck and the pod like it use to be.

how come this is such a mystery and no one else talks about it in this city- as if there is no such thing as the cn tower!! how can we all drum up some concern and interest with all torontonians?

^ People probably just don't care. I think to the average person in Toronto it is nothing special, just another building that they see everyday.

CN Tower is owned by Trizec Hahn? I didn't know that. Strange that both the Sears Tower and the CN Tower were owned by two subsidiaries of the same company.

Although Trizec Properties, the US arm of Trizec Hahn, gave up ownership of Sears several years ago.

Most cities have all of their lights on. I think Toronto should be different and turn off as many as possible. We could be The City of Starlight.

The tower is so beautiful... especially on days like today... not a cloud in the sky and it just stood out, almost U.F.O.-like. At night imagine it would be really impressive.

Hear's a creative idea ---> Imagine how kewl the underbelly of the saucer part of the tower would look if it would illuminate in white softly, then strongly, softly...then strongly...

how could we start a petition, if we show that its in Trizec's intrest to show off the tower with lights, and it woulds help buisness, then that could get their attention....

a flag at the top would look silly i think :P
but it DEFINITELY needs to be lit up. i've always wondered why it isn't... it looks so boring without lights.

Sometime last week or the week before, it was pretty hazy outside, and when I glanced over at the CN Tower from Bloor, the lack of lights made it almost ghost-like. It was actually kind of spooky.

They are doing some multicolored lazer light thing on it tonight. I hope someone gets in their face about this!

^^Huh?

they are?

I can see the cn tower from my shower, and I dont see anything funky...

I find it a shame to see a national icon not lit at night in the largest city in Canada.
Oh well, cheap cheap is all I can think.

im not to worried about it the rogers centre lights it up pretty good

I am , this is a disgrace and so typically Toronto. Again, find me a world calss city or not a world class city so poorly lit. Then find me a world record holder so poorly presented.

Maybe once the record goes we will light the thing, and talk about the glory days how we used to be the tallest....

there are so many more problems in the city that deserve more attention then the lighting od the CN tower!

But the CN Tower is the city's most recognizable symbol....hell, it probably is the most recognizable building in all of Canada. I think that qualifies as a big deal.

I was thinking... Why not do New Years eve fireworks from the CN Tower? That would be quite a sight to see. They can also put christmas lights or something on it during the christmas months, even just a green or red spot light shining on it. The possibilities are endless.

For the new year countdown, every second we count down can be a row of fireworks lit, starting from the top, down to the bottom. Once it reaches 0, the fireworks explode from the top.
All of southern Ontario would be able to watch it.

dam, its been done already... But still, it looks spectacular.

http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/special_events/images/firewk_1.jpg
http://www.fave.ca/p/p1043/p104s087fireworksCNTower.jpg

We can take a lesson from this famous landmark if we have to.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-07/15/xin_130702150919936202945.jpg

Even the skylon tower in Niagara Falls has lights.
http://www.geocities.com/ottawatulips2003/20031220/RIMG2903.jpg

The Skylon lights look tacky.

thse skylon lights are only during christmas.

yea at night there seems to be a spotlight of somesort shining on the doughnut part that changes from white to blue to red to green, been about a week now. i can see it looking from the west so maybe its only on one side?