Downtown Muncie will usher in the holiday season with about 15,000 lights in a display celebration beginning tonight.
The new energy-efficient light display was sponsored by Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), which provided a grant of about $25,000 to the city, Mayor Dan Canan said. Muncie is the first city where I&M has sponsored the holiday lights.
Two miles worth of decorative lights will silhouette about 46 buildings along downtown Walnut Street as well as parts of Main and Charles streets, Brian Lough, Downtown Development director, said. New holiday decorations have also been installed on lamp posts and planters throughout the area.
The lights will be on display through the end of December.
"It's about building a community where people want to live in where you don't have to go to Indianapolis or somewhere else to see quality entertainment," Lough said. "You can do it here."
Canan and I&M President Marsha Ryan will participate in a ceremony downtown at 5:30 p.m. today before counting down to when the lights turn on at 6 p.m.
Lough said he expects the holiday light celebration to draw many Ball State University students and other shoppers and diners who want to visit downtown Muncie. Downtown Development and the city of Muncie have been planning the holiday display since last spring, he said.
"We've been talking about it for four or five years, and we were waiting for a majority of businesses to get renovated so we didn't have to take them off and put them back on again," Lough said. About 22 buildings downtown have been renovated over the past five years, he said.
For the past few years, downtown Muncie featured luminaries in milk jugs during one weekend in December, Canan said. The holiday lights, however, will be permanent and less labor-intensive, he said. The light-emitting diode (LED) lights can last up to 200,000 hours and stay in place for several years, Lough said.
I&M agreed to maintain a five-year sponsorship with the city for the holiday lights, said Jim Riggle, manager of community relations for the company. I&M began with the Muncie Electric Power Co. in 1907 and grew into today's Indiana Michigan Power and American Electric Power.
"It was because of the long history we had with Muncie," Riggle said. "There's certainly been efforts to revitalize downtown, and we just think this is another event that would assist in doing that."
I&M will review the display after five years to measure its success, Riggle said. Lough said he hoped the display would continue for years to come.
"We would like to see it continue to grow and get all of [the buildings] silhouetted eventually," Lough said.
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