COEUR d’ALENE  — When Richard and Laraine Jaggi opened the door at McEuen Park, they were greeted by a calm ocean and palm trees.

Richard closed it, and that world disappeared.

He opened it again, and a glowing planet, surrounded by light and stars, stared them in the face.

“Pretty awesome,” Laraine Jaggi said Friday. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

John Ortman and Ben Leifheit saw it the same way.

They opened one door and they were looking at a mountain range and blue sky. They opened another and colorful lights rolled and flashed across a screen.

“It’s definitely unique,” Leifheit said. “I haven’t really seen anything like this down here before.”

“Really cool,” added Ortman.

The two were among hundreds, including many children, who came downtown on a clear, 37-degree night for the opening of Winter Lights, a free event described as “an illuminated outdoor art experience.”

A leisurely walk from McEuen Park to The Coeur d’Alene Resort’s front lawn to downtown shops took guests through a wonderland of large-scale, light-based artworks, interactive displays and colorfully lit sculptures. 

Put on by the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association and presented by STCU, Winter Lights is billed as a chance to “celebrate the Northwest winter season as downtown glows from featured works of art from local, national and international artists.”

Downtown businesses will be offering special events, sales, raffles and window displays.

The Beacon at McEuen Park is made of colorful ICB water totes stacked together, with four active doors that reveal a new world each time they’re opened, and one you can actually walk through.

The Doors, at McEuen and also on Sherman Avenue, were popular Friday night, as they were continually opened, closed and opened again. Each one contains a set of animations, and no two doors are ever the same, with over 200 unique videos.

The Tunnel on The Resort front lawn is a series of 12-foot cosmic structures that create a tunnel of light and sound. Visitors can use an interactive device to create light patterns and sounds.

The idea of Winter Lights is to give folks a reason to get outside and visit local businesses in the often dreary time following Christmas.

It worked.

Tim and Pam Rarick were following a map to all the stops of Winter Lights.

“We've done all the way up to 11 and then we’re going to head east,” Pam said after they opened another of The Doors at Third Street and Sherman Avenue.

She said they took a break to eat before pushing on, which is what organizers were hoping visitors would do.

“This is great,” Tim said.

Paula Taylor planned a big weekend downtown with daughter Tara Kopczynski when they heard about Winter Lights.

“It’s a way-cool concept,” Taylor said. “Everything is amazing.”

A thrilled Kopczynski was beaming with delight as she posed for pictures in The Tunnel, lights changing colors around her.

“It’s incredible,” she said, smiling. "Magical.”

Winter Lights runs 4 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4 to 8 Sunday to Thursday through Feb. 4.

    Tara Kopczynski smiles in The Tunnel in front of The Coeur d'Alene Resort on Friday, opening night of Winter Lights.
  

    Tim Rarick opens one of The Doors on Sherman Avenue on Friday.
  

    Visitors walk around The Beacon, part of Winter Lights, at McEuen Park on Friday.
  

    Visitors walk through The Tunnel on Friday in downtown Coeur d'Alene.
  

    An array of shapes and colors are revealed when one of The Doors is opened at McEuen Park on Friday.