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In the heart of downtown Greenville, South Carolina, you’ll find Falls Park on the Reedy River. This scenic gathering place is the perfect example of the city’s ongoing revitalization. Liberty Bridge is located in the center of the park and gives pedestrians sweeping views of the Reedy River Falls, gardens, and downtown skyline.
For a structure that already turns heads during the day, the challenge was making sure it could shine after dark. This meant rethinking a lighting system that had been in place for years, working around existing infrastructure, and finding a way to bring new energy to a beloved public space without disrupting the park experience. Local ETC dealer Productions Unlimited was brought in to help with the upgrade.
The bridge was originally completed in the early 2000s, and the existing lighting system began showing its age about a decade later. According to Will Thornhill, Lighting Department Manager with Productions Unlimited, the team had been exploring options for years, including demos and photometric testing around the park. The goal was simple in concept but complex in execution: highlight the beauty of the waterfall and the bridge’s signature pylons while respecting the park, nearby buildings, and the people who live and work around it.
That last part mattered. Falls Park is not an empty site where crews can dig freely, shut things down, and start from scratch. It is an active park surrounded by hotels, offices, and condos. The team needed to reuse as much existing infrastructure as possible, avoid major excavation, and prevent lighting effects from spilling into nearby windows at night.
The solution included ETC’s Desire D60XTI fixtures and Mosaic architectural control. The D60XTI fixtures brought the brightness, color mixing, and outdoor-ready performance needed for the job. Even during rough focus, the four fixtures on each pylon filled the space better than expected. By the end of the night, the team was already lowering intensity because the output was more than enough.
Control was handled through an ETC Mosaic system, with wireless DMX used to reach multiple locations around the park. Because the project relied on existing conduit pathways, the installation required plenty of creative problem-solving. The team had to consult with engineers and electricians to find practical ways to make modern control work within a 20-year-old environment. “That challenge was part of the fun,” says Alec Mock, Assistant Lighting Department Manager.
Glare control was another major consideration. With residences and hospitality spaces overlooking the park, the lighting needed to enhance the bridge and falls without becoming intrusive. Accessories such as louvers and cowls helped shape the beam, reduce glare, and create a cleaner cutoff near the top of the falls. The result is a lighting design that feels intentional rather than overpowering. Even before final focus, one city project manager compared the look to Disney World. While that may not have been the official design brief, it was a good sign that Productions Unlimited's work was a success.
For Greenville, this project was about more than replacing old fixtures. Falls Park helped reshape the city’s downtown, turning an area once defined by industrial decline into a destination for residents and visitors. The Liberty Bridge is often one of the first places people take family and friends. Updating its lighting gives the city a new way to celebrate that history while keeping the space active, welcoming, and visually memorable after sunset.
