Meanwhile, the white sign monolith in the background is obnoxiously bright especially on rainy night.
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I've successfully started a twitter conversation with the stakeholders, I think.
https://twitter.com/mdrejhon/status/613160912476860417
As an amateur photographer, my recmmendation is a 50%-75% dimming (gray tinted tube protectors, so it's much more subdued) -- perhaps similiar in brightness to planned gentle clock backlighting. I've suggested
tube-dimmer sleeves. Neutral density fluorescent tube protection sleeves can reduce light by 2 F-Stops, 3 F-Stops or 4 F-Stops, and would be a very cheap retrofit.
It would make for more kick-ass night photography of Union Station; they would prefer good photos on Social Media. Hope they follow my suggestion.
Tube Sleeve 209 is 51% light transmission (half brightness)
Tube Sleeve 210 is 24% light transmission (quarter brightness)
Tube Sleeve 211 is 14% light transmission (eighth brightness)
It could be combined with Sleeve 206, to convert fluorescent (6500K) to warmer tungesten-look (4600K) which is more compatible with Union Station heritage look. Warm incandescent look from fluorescent tubes, perhaps combined with Sleeve 209 or 210. There might be a single sleeve that combines both simultaneously.
Professional photographers (and amateurs like me) who want to take nighttime photos of Union with an SLR camera, will agree to how big a problem the current overbright signage monolith will be at night, especially on reflective wet sidewalks.
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Observe that the bright sign in the background overexposes, including the reflection on wet sidewalks.
Union Station night photos, that include the bright signage, will look bad on social media due to the glare. This photo was not with an SLR, but with an iPhone (the best camera is the only camera I already was carrying at the time...) but the same glareout problem also happens with professional SLRs.
The excess monoligth brightness overexposes photography, and overwhelms the heritage elements elsewhere in the photo.
Provisionally, as amateur SLR photographer, I recommend either Fluorescent Tube Sleeve #209 (ND, 50% light) or #210 (ND, 25% light) combined with #206 (warmer Tungesten color temperature). Or skip #206 by utilizing warmer tubes instead, but use #209 or #210 for dimming. Each monolith has 8 tubes per side, and there are two monoliths, so that's 32 tube sleeves of each, plus spares. Very cheap retrofit that would make the white sign monolith more heritage compatible. Include polycarbonate sleeves too, for weatherproofing and protecting the filter. They are also UV resistant, so suitable for outdoor installation when configured accordingly. Several manufacturers, including LEE Filter, makes these fluorescent tube filters in several different lengths, including the exact length of standard tube used in the overbright monoliths.
I understand a compromise for wayfinding is needed between "bright enough" versus "too bright". However, it is currently definitely "too bright" both for people and for successful photography. When experimenting with multiple sleeves, test using a camera too at nighttime. I think the 25% (#210) sleeve would be "just right" especially when combined with a color-temperature-warming sleeve (#204, #205 or #206) to make the color more heritage-like but if this is too dim, then the 50% (#209) would be a compromise even though it will probably still overexpose many night photos.
Feel free to vet this post through a different professional (e.g. news photographer), I hereby claim this post as public domain, and give up all rights to this specific post, for the public good.
EDIT: My recommendation has been
forwarded to the Union Revitalization Manager.