The golden tower

Mc Donalds may have the golden arches, but Toronto has the golden tower.  If you have noticed the tower wearing a new shade the past week, its for good reason.. in celebration and in tribute to the numerous gold medals we have been accumulating in Vancouver.  It all started when Alexander Bilodeau won the first gold medal on home soil last week, and the CN Tower has been wearing its gold just as proudly.
Since June 2007, The tower has been awash in every colour in the spectrum- and then some.  The 1,330 colour LED light fixtures that were installed are no bigger than a shoe box, and have the ability to produce 16.7 million different colours.  Many years ago, before the LED era, the best we could do was look at a tower lit up by high powered flood lighting, which clearly didn't have the same effect as what the modern day version can do.  On a clear night, from Niagara on the Lake, one can see the tower in all its majestic colours as well.
Each LED fixture has a lifetime of roughly 10 years and requires little to no maintenance whatsoever.  Energy efficient, cost efficient and just plain old beautiful, are some benefits to this illumination system.  Depending on what current events are underway (Olympics) or in recognition of other events (Haiti), The tower sticks to a lighting schedule based on national holidays, yearly events or fun days such as Valentines day. One can even make a request with the CN Tower to illuminate it for other reasons such as the ones already mentioned by downloading a request form from their website.

Color Kinetics is the company that had the privilege of outfitting the tower, and have been known for outstanding work around the world lighting up other iconic structures such as the Eiffel Tower and Rockefeller Plaza.
It's difficult to not stop and stare at the tower any time of year- day or night, but since the LED installation, the CN Tower has been reborn.  It couldn't of happened at a better time, not only for environmental reasons, but in times of celebration, when we all want to share a piece of the gold.