BRIGHT LIGHTS FOR RONGOTAI

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 1, 26 September 1939, Page 12

BRIGHT LIGHTS FOR RONGOTAI

Exhibition Electricity PREPARATIONS REACH PENULTIMATE STAGE The enormous task of preparing the lighting arrangements which will transform the Centennial Exhibition grounds and buildings into a veritable fairyland by night is now being burned toward its final stages. It has been said that the exhibition will require as much electric current as a whole city such as, say, Palmerston North. The peak load is estimated to be likely to exceed 15,000 kilowatts; for comparison, the total load at the Dunedin Exhibition of 102-1 was only IJIOO kilowatts. The majoritj- of the cable used in the exhibition is stranded wire, the equivalent of 2233 miles of ordinary household wiring. There are, actually, 275 miles of this multiple-strand cable laid down, linking up with all corners of grounds and stalls, and providing lightand power wherever required. The great floodlights are now being set in place, the complex automatic colour-change control apparatus installed in the basements. Work is proceeding on what will be the central feature of the scene, by night or by day—the great electric fountain in the central court. It will throw a jet 50 feet in the air and will change and vary the combinations of its jets, as well as the colour combinations which will illumine it by night. The falling water will tumble over four beautiful mermaids, each seated on a seahorse, while round the bowl of the fountain, seen through the mists of spray, will be a decorative freize of children playing with quaintly designed angel-fish. The translucent water will glow with concealed lighting. Buildings and tower, with all their magic of changing light, will be reflected in still pools so placed as to create the most impressive possible effect. The electrical equipment required to create this wonderful scene will be sufficient, it is said, to serve completely a city with a population of 25,000 people. The exhibition lights will be visible from a great distance, far up the Hutt Road, far across Cook Strait, and from many of the surrounding hills.