As some of you may have noticed, the Shimmer Wall in downtown Raleigh now appears fully functional. The N&O is working on a story about the wall for later this week so feel free to post your opinions of it here. ("Neat" and "cool" appear to be the most common opinions of the wall.)

Given that Raleigh's relationship with public art has not always been good, the Shimmer Wall is shaping up to be a major success. Yes, the wall was built with private money, but it will likely be viewed as public art given its placement on the McDowell Street side of the Convention Center. The wall includes an image of an oak tree, which several residents have said is perfect.

Are there any other images that would have been equally perfect symbols of Raleigh? Sir Walter? A garbage disposal? An acorn?

Sort of. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Dean Penny with the consultant Kimley Horn, provided an update on The City Plaza, Raleigh's much ballyhooed high-tech gathering place planned for the south end of Fayetteville Street. The update culminated with the council voting to pursue condemnation action against The Simpson Group, owner of the Bank of America building and the parking deck located under Fayetteville Street.

Before that, however, Penny ran through all the bells and whistles planned for the plaza. One of the elements will be a fountain with motion-sensor activated jets. Penny said people have been referring to this feature as Raleigh's "mini-Bellagio." Essentially, the fountains will rise and fall depending on what's happening around them. With a mini-Bellagio fountain and a "Shimmer Wall," downtown Raleigh visitors may soon have to be warned about overstimulating themselves. (Particularly those visitors brave enough to tool around on Segways.)

One other City Plaza note: In order to save money the city has decided to ditch the "torchiere" light fixtures that had been designed by artist Jim Gallucci. Gallucci's fixtures will be replaced by an "off-the-shelf" product. (Ikea?????). Gallucci fans can take some solace in the fact that his bollard designs and designs for the City of Oaks light towers will remain in the plans. There's nothing worse than off-the-shelf bollards.