City won’t be turning down the lights for Earth Hour

There was an interesting article in today’s Telegraph-Journal.

It looks like the City of Saint John won’t be turning down the lights for Earth Hour:

SAINT JOHN – As neighbouring communities turn off the lights for Earth Hour on Saturday, Saint John municipal buildings will keep the sky aglow.

Mayor Ivan Court says he hadn’t heard about any plans to shut off the lights for an hour in any city-owned buildings.

“We already save more than a million dollars a year. We got an award for that,” Court said Thursday.

But this is not stopping local businesses from doing their part to raise awareness:

Although Saint John’s municipal buildings won’t be powering down, there will be no shortage of romance in the Port City Saturday night, with a collection of restaurants offering candlelight dinners.

At the Hilton’s Brigantine Lounge, guests will be invited to a cold buffet of wine and cheese from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. by candlelight.

“The hotel will go down to minimal lighting in all areas,” said Dermot Collins, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing.

At the Saint John Ale House, chefs will use head lamps to cook dinner as the lights go out, said owner Peter Stoddard. There will also be a candlelight dinner during the official Earth Hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.

It will be the same scene at the Market Square boardwalk at Lemongrass and Pepper’s Pub, said Matt Driscoll, the general manager. Along with the candles, patrons will enjoy acoustic music.

“It’s good for the planet, good for the environment and good for the community,” he said.

The Opera Bistro will black out with candles and earthy meal specials, said owner Margret Begner.

The lights will go out at the Fortis Properties Buildings, including Brunswick Square, the Delta Brunswick hotel and adjoining office tower, said general manager Paulette Hicks.

There will be a candlelight cocktails at Shuckers Restaurant, she said.

McDonald’s Restaurants will dim the exterior roof lights and road signs for the hour.

Jane Barry, executive director of the Saint John Community Foundation, said she was surprised to hear the city had no official plans to participate. Last year, the foundation invited people to log their activity online, with around 300 people signing up. This year, Barry said the foundation is directing people to www.earthhour.org.

“I think it’d be a wonderful symbolic gesture,” she said, adding it’s pretty simple to ask municipal building operators to turn off the lights.

“In fact, I’ll send an email to the mayor right now.”

Anyone interested in signing themselves up, should visit the Earth Hour website!