GRAND COULEE, Wash. — The historical light show is back at the Grand Coulee Dam!
“Look at the beautiful lights on there,” said Lisa as her family watched the show Thursday night. “I used to watch that when I was a little girl.”
As the Lancaster family braved the cold weather, they watched in awe as the dam beamed with red, purple and yellow hues.
“My first memory is probably when I was four years old, four or five years old,” Lisa said.
For Lisa, this experience was nostalgic. She used to watch the show with her mom. Now, she’s making those same memories with her daughter.
“I like all the different colors and I like how it looks,” said Lisa’s daughter Aaleah.
The original light bar was built in the 1950s and lit up the dam every summer beginning in 1958. This nighttime spectacle went on for decades.
“There was a fire in 2000 that severed the cable that feeds the light bank,” said Coleman Smith, power manager for Grand Coulee Dam.
The community has been waiting to see it again ever since. Now, after about $15,000 in repairs, the Bureau of Reclamation recommissioned the lights this past New Year’s Eve.
“It’s for the public. We are very proud of this iconic structure in our nation and we enjoy showing it off,” Smith said. “We do this to help bring a notoriety to what we have here.”
For some community members, they’ve only heard stories about the magnificent show until now.
“We’ve never seen the iconic lights, the original light bar because now everything is digital,” said Patricia Birk who lives in Grand Coulee. “It’s beautiful. This dam is awesome.”
If you’re hoping to catch the light show yourself, the Grand Coulee Visitor Center offers free parking. The show will be playing every night from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. through March 6.
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