With the Help of a Local Student, Installation of New Lighting Shines Brightly on Art Hill

Forest Park Forever President and Executive Director Lesley Hoffarth, P.E., was joined by Harris-Stowe University student Jayleen Gonzalez and St. Louis City Director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry Greg Hayes for the official lighting ceremony on Thursday, September 10, 2015.

Art Hill is one of the most iconic locations in Forest Park, and now it has a lighting system to match! Thanks to a generous donation from the Pershing Charitable Trust, Forest Park Forever was able to install an efficient new system comprised of 128 LED lights along the tree-lined path at the top of Art Hill. This area had been relatively dark over the past few years, but will now be just as welcoming to visitors after sunset as it is during the rest of the day. Read our recent press release about this project here. 

On Thursday, September 10, the lights were officially turned on by Harris-Stowe University Engineering student Jayleen Gonzalez. She was joined by Forest Park Forever President and Executive Director Lesley S. Hoffarth, P.E., and St. Louis City Director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry Greg Hayes. Gonzalez, a freshman, will take part in a new partnership between Harris-Stowe and Forest Park Forever that aims to expose the university’s engineering students to Forest Park Forever engineers and engineering careers within public spaces.

What the lights looked like a few moments after the ceremony

Forest Park Forever is proud to have completed this project which enhances an area so beloved by so many. The new lights are sure to make the area more welcoming and beautiful, and provide a wonderful complement to the Emerson Grand Basin, the Saint Louis Art Museum and the popular statue of Louis IX that overlooks Art Hill.