LEXINGTON, KY – Bottlestop, Lexington’s first artistically designed bus shelter, located in front of the LFUCG Versailles Rd campus, will be dedicated on Martin Luther King Day, January 19th at 1:00 pm. The pilot project began as a national design competition. Winner Aaron Scales, who entered as a fifth year senior at the UK College of Design, was one of three finalists awarded cash prizes totaling $4,000. The competition was coordinated by Art in Motion a non-profit, volunteer organization formed to raise funds for ‘art’ shelters to serve LexTran riders and the community after federal studies showed improved amenities and public art increased public transit ridership.
Rather than relying on dramatic sculpture forms to attract users, ‘Bottlestop’ uses recognizable glass Ale-8-One bottles. By stacking the bottles between panes of safety glass, the bus stop becomes a cathedral of light welcoming pedestrians to the shelter of its soft glow, Scales said in his proposal. By night, the bottles are illuminated by low energy LED lights from local experts at Q Lighting. The lighting will be solar-powered, requiring no current from the electrical grid, and all the bottles are recycled. Scales’ mentor and employer, architect Jim McKay has overseen the final design and fabrication process.
The project was funded by a $14,000 grant from the Urban County Council Corridors Committee from federal Transportation Enhancement dollars awarded by the KY Office of Special Programs. LexTran provided the concrete base and other foundational infrastructure.
The innovativeness of the project has inspired many local companies and individuals to donate time, resources and expertise, estimated at over $30,000 in value. They include:
• Jim McKay and Aaron Scales, McKay Snyder Architects
• LexArts
• Ira Cooper, Bob Burris, and Tom Cockerham with Q Lighting
• Electrician Phil Smyth
• Voltaic Solar
• O’Nan Glass
• Structural Engineer Peyman Jahed
• Ale-8-One Bottling Company
• EC Matthews
• Design contest jurors Erika Strecker, Guy Kemper, Jim Clark, Debra Burrowdale-Cox and Steve Austin
