One of the obstacles of the design of the new Calatrava Bridge spanning the Trinity River flood plain has been the power substation that sits right in line with where the bridge will eventually let off traffic. Once upon a time, the power station’s location was considered out of the way, but now, it is a seen as a blight on the hoped-to-be-lovely new and improved West Dallas. That’s why the City Design Studio has issued an open call for proposals to “re-imagine the external appearance of the power substation.” The studio began accepting submissions yesterday, but act fast: the deadline for proposals is June July 8.

I like Bethany’s tongue-in-cheek suggestion for the project that she posted to FrontBurner yesterday. After all, this is every bit a lipstick on a pig project. In the comments to this Dallas Observer story on the project, there is a much simpler and rather novel idea: trees. But you never know what you’ll get when you throw a bunch of creatives at a project, especially when there is a stipend in play for $5,000 – $8,000. So we’ll wait and see what proposals come in.

For now, here’s my idea for sweeping that nasty power substation under the proverbial rug: a giant blown-up version of Danny Williams drawing Pleine de la Maule, 2007 (pictured above) – mural-sized, like a giant billboard blocking our view of the power station.