Fifty-six trees in downtown Hot Springs will have a permanent glow year-round.
At 5:45 p.m. today, the Downtown Association of Hot Springs will be joined by Mayor Pat McCabe to officially switch on the 45,000 LED lights.
The lights are wrapped around the trunks of the trees, with some extending up into the branches.
According to Benny Baker, president of the association, this project has been a little more than a year in the making.
"This was an initiative that was really thought up over a year ago when Greg Mabry, who owns Kringles in the Park, saw something similar to these on a trip to Colorado," Baker said. "He came back and ran the idea by Mike Pettey of The Ohio Club, who is a past president of the association, and he thought it was a great idea."
Baker said Mabry, who has spearheaded the project, had presented the idea to the association which gave its approval.
Trees from the 100 block of Central Avenue, near Kollective Coffee+Tea, to Prospect Avenue will light up every day beginning around dusk, he said. This is unrelated to the association's annual downtown holiday lighting that takes place in conjunction with the Tom Daniel Chili Cook-Off on Nov. 19.
"We consider this to be phase one of this lighting project downtown," Baker said. "We hope to at some point add more lights to include all of Central Avenue."
The project has been made possible by a partnership with Visit Hot Springs, the city of Hot Springs and downtown business owners, he said.
"Some proceeds from the chili cook-off and increased memberships helped fund this project, plus some support from Visit Hot Springs and the city of Hot Springs," Baker said. "This was a total partnership."
Baker said there won't be a switch to flip today because the lights are scheduled to come on at a certain time. Today, McCabe will speak around 5:30 p.m. and the lights should come on right at 5:45 p.m.; however, that time may be adjusted moving forward.
"This is going to be a big difference for downtown," he said.
Local on 11/13/2018