New lights in the lobby of New London's post office have caused some heat because of what the fluorescent light does to old murals.
"I think it flattens it. I don't think it looks like it used to. I don't like it. It's sad," said Julie Greco, of Waterford. "And fluorescent lights I know are not very good to our face so i can only imagine what it's doing to the painting."
The murals show whalers in action, and they've decorated the lobby since the 1930s. The postal service could not find light bulbs for the lamps that went with the murals so officials decided to change the lamps. One preservationist complained to her congressman but for the most part the new light is welcome.
"It does have a lot of color into them and they're really beautiful," said Emily Mejia, of New London, who remembers seeing the murals on a grade school field trip. "It's part of our history here. I don't see why they'd object the lighting."
Bill Vogel came out of the lobby and said, "I always like them and I think I like to see them lit up a bit so I could see 'em better."
His friend, City Councilmember Marty Olsen, said, "The fluorescents look good. It brightens up what was rather a dark and dank room so it works for me."
Asked where the controversy goes from here, Olsen said, "Nowhere, hopefully."
