(1st in a series of posts on Christmas lights)
So we know how important the Christmas season is for the City — for a number of reasons.
And the Mayor has employed a consultant to present recommendations for lighting and decoration.
The follow-up to April’s meeting is an open-house this Thursday 5-7 in Town Hall.
See this announcement below that went up on the City web site on Friday.
Now Gadfly is not really a “Christmas-person” — he’s been known to be a bit grinchy.
Nor is he adept at or attuned to matters of style and decoration. (You’ve seen the way he dresses.)
But, given the importance of the decorations to the City and wide interest among the citizenry, Gadfly would appreciate followers who are “in” to these matters attending the open-house and reporting back to us.
We could use several perspectives. What say?
RENDERINGS OF SUGGESTED IMPROVMENTS TO CHRISTMAS DÉCOR ON DISPLAY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT THURSDAY, MAY 30, 2019 FROM 5:00-7:00 PM CITY OF BETHLEHEM TOWN HALL The City of Bethlehem will have the proposed improvements to the City’s Christmas lighting and décor on display for the public to view on May 30 from 5:00-7:00 PM. These renderings are a result of the public meeting held in April and the various stakeholder meetings held with David Weiner Lighting Design, LLC, the consultant for the project. “The City relies on a robust Christmas season to support our small businesses and to provide a terrific experience for our residents”, said Mayor Robert J. Donchez. “The enhancement of our décor program is a necessary step in making sure Bethlehem remains a destination for the holiday season.” The public is invited to stop by the open-house format anytime between 5:00 and 7:00 PM in Town Hall at 10 E. Church Street, Bethlehem.
Dear Gadfly,
I walked over this afternoon to view the photo facsimiles of what the decorations would look like. The plan proposes unified decorations on the major gateways to the city (Rt. 378, New St Bridge, 5 Points, 4th Street) , Main Street and a focus on Payrow Plaza. The proposed decorations have a consistent theme of garlands with multicolored lights and a central white star. There are different iterations of this along with trees wrapped in lights and the rotunda and library wrapped in lights and snowflakes projected on the plaza pavement and walls of the plaza buildings “painted” in projected ligh, along with the tree & creche.The design was very festive and I can imagine that it would enhance downtown Bethlehem for the Christmas season as a destination benefiting our downtown merchants. Not sure what the cost is of all of this so that is a different discussion. Interestingly, the design included some giant candles where the menorah usually is situated. I asked the designer, David Wiener, where they planned to put the menorah and he said that no one had mentioned a menorah to him so he planned to follow-up with that.