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Earlier today, LA Live’s Nokia Plaza was full of workers fine-tuning its elaborate lights display equipment, which will be fully operational once calendared events start playing out on this Thursday’s opening night. Huge LED screens on the plaza’s steel light pylons were glowing pink, orange, green, blue and purple.

Once the sun set, angelenic scurried over to South Park with cameras and tripods in tow.

The scene upon arrival was nothing short of spectacular. Only a few years ago LA Live was another distant plan for a huge surface parking lot. To be there tonight and see activity, lights, music, and a plaza full of elated couples and families — attendees of the invitation-only preview event for corporate shareholders — really allowed us to soak in the enormity of the project and its importance to Downtown and Los Angeles as a city.

As the minutes passed, lighting technicians in power lifts started the lighting synchronization process, making sure each column’s searchlights were timed perfectly to form an intricate pattern in the foggy Downtown sky.

Ad content was being refined; unprogrammed LED screens flashed static, bright neon colors and the occasional AEG logo; and huge supergraphic banners announced the impending Eagles and Dixie Chicks concerts.

More photographs of the vibrant Nokia Plaza here and here.

Ed Fuentes checks out the glowing LA Live model over at blogdowntown.