The opening of the KFC Yum! Center has the city sprucing itself up and tonight another multi-million dollar makeover of downtown Louisville will be unveiled when Mayor Jerry Abramson “flips the switch” on the Second Street Bridge light display.

Earlier today the Mayor’s Office sent out a press release hyping the plaza under the bridge, which will see a line of flashy lights whizzing up and down every hour in a place that used to be a dreary underbelly of downtown — which still exists less than a block away along the Iron Quarter strip.

“We are turning a dark, uninviting area into a bright, sizzling center of excitement that expands the impact of the KFC Yum Center,” Abramson said in a news release. “This will be a fantastic destination place as well as a connector that links the arena, surrounding entertainment venues and Waterfront Park.”

The $3 million dollar facelift was funded with stimulus dollars, specifically $2.4 million funneled from a Transportation Enhancement grant through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet with the other $600,000 coming from Metro government funds.

The display will be seen from sunset to Midnight on weekdays and from sunset to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to the Mayor’s Office, meaning the LG&E bill will be atrocious.

The release also pumps our Bluegrass pride by mentioning that the color scheme of red and gold was inspired by Kentucky bourbon and the colors of a sunset (designed by a New Yorker named Leni Schwendinger), which will probably remind locals of a nasty hangover.

The mayor will turn the lights on 8:30 p.m. tonight.