On Thursday morning, Town of St. Paul public works staff members were busy taking down the Christmas lights off the lampposts along main street, signifying not only the end of another holiday season, but also the end of an era for the decorations.
While Mayor Maureen Miller wasn’t sure of the exact age of the shooting start-shaped Christmas lights, she did point out that when she moved to town in 1988, she remembers the decorations being in use.
The previous Town of St. Paul council included the purchase of new Christmas light decorations for main street in its budget. The lights cost $85,000 and are already in the town’s possession.
As the years went by, it was becoming harder and harder to find replacement light bulbs for the old decorations, since they were incandescent lights, explains Miller.
The new decorations will have LED lights, “so we should save on energy,” says Miller, adding, the new lights should also result in less maintenance.
And while the new lights were in the town’s possession before Christmas, a decision was made to install the old decorations one last time. The brackets on the lampposts will have to be refurbished for the new lights, prior to the next holiday season.
Without a public works director in place earlier this winter, the town’s staff had to prioritize its work, and energy was put into the town’s basic needs, rather than refurbishing the brackets on the lampposts, explains Miller.
The new lights will be put up for the 2018/19 holiday season.
