A new project is in the works to create a light display that spans the 600 and 500 blocks of Midland Street. File photo. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

BAY CITY, MI - The Midland Street Business District is ramping up efforts on a project that aims to make it shine bright. Plans are currently in the works to create a span of decorative lights over the roadway that visually connects the west side with a similar yet different display on the east side across the Saginaw River.

“Although we have two sides, we are one Bay City,” said Matt Nemode, of the Midland Street Business District and owner of Mode’s Tavern.

Nemode said that the project is aiming to draw out-of-towners while increasing locals’ confidence in being able to have fun in the district.

He added, “It’s not going to reinvent Midland Street by any means but it’s something that’s going to, pardon the pun, put the Midland Street District in a favorable light.”

The project harkens back to the era of Bay City’s Third Street Bridge, which met its demise in 1976 when the steel girder bridge collapsed while opening for river traffic after experiencing a ship strike earlier. The bridge used to connect the city’s east and west sides, serving as an important thoroughfare for traffic traveling from what is now the Downtown District on the east side to the west side’s Midland Street District and vice versa.

The east side of the river has its own type of “bridge” - the popular Third Street Star Bridge. The Star Bridge is a canopy of lights that zigzags from building to building, ultimately lining up with the Water Fall Park at the west end of the street where the start of the Third Street Bridge used to be.

Now, the west side is aiming to have its own kind of lighting project with a bit of a twist. Greg Kimbrue, who owns VNO explained that the plan is to have the lights set up in arches that span the roadway instead of zigzagging like the Third Street display.

“It would be something that we could use to really emphasize our area and make a difference with it,” Kimbrue said. “We didn’t want to just have ‘Star Bridge two’ or anything like that, we wanted it to be different.”

A special fundraiser will be held on Sunday, Aug. 28 to help make a proposed lighting project a reality in Bay City's Midland Street Business District. Photo provided by Matt Nemode.

Kimbrue explained that the plan is to have five arches in each block and that the initial plan is to have the lights installed in the 600 and 500 blocks of Midland Street. The position of these lights would make them visible from the east side, just like how those on the west side can see the Third Street Star Bridge lights now.

“If you stand in the 600 block at nightime and you look to the east, you can see their light,” Kimbrue said. “It would be the same thing if you’re standing there and you look our way - you’ll see this lighting. Except we’re uphill.”

Nemode said that goal right now is to raise approximately $10-15,000 in funding for the project. He added that the overall cost for the project is approximately $20,000 and that the Midland Street District is currently applying for a grant that would help with some of the costs.

To help make this lighting project a reality, the district is looking for the community’s financial support as well. A special fundraiser for the project will be held from 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28 at the VNO Wine Warehouse and New Age Restaurant at 510 E. Midland Street. Attendees can enjoy a chicken dinner with sides, live entertainment, a silent and live auction, a 50/50 as well as the chance to win a “wheelbarrow of cheer.”

Tickets to the fundraiser are $25 each or two for $45. All proceeds, excluding expenses, will benefit the lighting project.

Tickets can be purchased ahead of time at VNO or at Mode’s Tavern. If any tickets are left, they can be bought on the day of the event.

Attendees to the fundraiser will also be given a chance to name the lighting project. It doesn’t have a flashy name yet like the Third Street Star Bridge and the goal is to give it its own unique west side name.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but we want this to be different,” Kimbrue said. “Midland Street is different. Midland Street, as everybody knows, is kind of like the entertainment spot for middle Michigan, it has been for the last 50 years. We just think it’s just going to be one more thing that will help to add to the renaissance that is going on down there.”

As for that renaissance, Midland Street has seen a deluge of new businesses such as a new cookie shop, a late-night coffee shop, an indoor skatepark and more.

More changes are also coming at Kimbrue’s own restaurant. Plans are currently in the works to sell VNO and things are starting to take shape, meaning that this will most likely be the last fundraiser he holds at VNO as the owner.

Kimbrue called the date ironic given his past involvement in different charity and fundraising events over the past nine years that he and his wife Peggy have operated VNO together.

“In that period of time, doing events like this and wine tastings and comedy nights and all the other things that we’ve done plus all the donations that I’ve made to this, that and every other charity that wanders through the door looking for something - we’ve raised over a quarter of a million dollars in that period of time,” he said.

He added, “This is just one more way that we can give back to our community and hopefully leave something behind that is going to keep on giving for a long time in the future.”

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