Up in Smoke BBQ Committee to make donation to the city this evening

[June 13, 2017]  LINCOLN -  Through a cooperative effort between the City of Lincoln and The Lincoln BBQ Committee, two new power pedestals have been installed on Pulaski Street in Lincoln. The Lincoln BBQ Committee will turn over the temporary electrical boxes that will be plugged into the power pedestals to supply power for events being held in downtown Lincoln this evening at 6 p.m. The community is invited to attend this short presentation.

The temporary electrical boxes will access power at two power pedestals set on Pulaski Street. One at Kickapoo and Pulaski and another at McClean and Pulaski.

The power pedestals were made possible through a cooperative project between The City of Lincoln and The Lincoln BBQ Committee that plans and puts on the annual Up in Smoke on the Square KCBS BBQ contest held in Lincoln the first full weekend in June each year. The City of Lincoln and the Lincoln BBQ Committee shared in the cost of pulling the heavy cable to supply the power to the power pedestals between Kickapoo street and McClean Street on Pulaski Street through existing conduit installed during the streetscape project completed several years ago.

Other events will have easy access to power through the power pedestals using the newly acquired temporary electrical boxes. The temporary electrical boxes and power pedestals are being donated to the City of Lincoln by The Lincoln BBQ Committee, Eaton Corporation and Graue Chevrolet Buick Cadillac of Lincoln. The power pedestals were installed by Jim Bishop and wired by Steve Brown both of Lincoln.

The Lincoln BBQ Committee saw the need for the power pedestals and approached the City to share in the cost of the project. The total cost of the project with the Power Pedestals, temporary electrical boxes and electrical cords to hook them up is approximately $3,000.

Over the 7 years that Up in Smoke on the Square has been held in Lincoln, their committee has installed 8 200 amp/240 Volt permanent electrical services to power the BBQ contest and other events to be held in downtown Lincoln. Eaton Corporation and the late Joe Fitzpatrick were instrumental in assisting with helping with the layout and installation of these components.

[Chris Graue]