NEW for Downtown Branson
The Branson Christmas Coalition has been working with the Historic Downtown Branson Community Improvement District (CID) on plans to decorate downtown Branson with beautiful new LED-lit pole mounts, custom-designed and in production for 65 lampposts along Main and Commercial Streets during the Ozark Mountain Christmas season this year. A professional holiday lighting designer, commissioned by the Branson Christmas Coalition, has developed several concepts for the area over the past two years. Working closely with the Historic Downtown Branson CID this summer, a focus on decorating the lampposts and utilizing a winter wonderland theme resulted in two, compatible designs featuring candlelight snowflakes and pure white swirls of light.
“We have always believed that our downtown area has a warm nostalgia and special magic, especially at Christmas,” explains Cris Bohinc, Executive Director of the Downtown Branson CID. “Our Board of Directors wanted to enhance the holidays in our District and support the season for all of Branson with a unique and beautiful light display that can only be seen in Downtown Branson.”
The Historic Downtown Branson CID Board met with the Coalition’s designer from Orlando when she visited Branson in June. More than 40 concept sketches were developed, reviewed, and revised until a final option was selected in July. Manufacturing, pricing, delivery, installation, and storage opportunities were evaluated until early August, when the order was placed for 65 fixtures including 398 snowflakes and swirls made from 87,568 LED lights.
“The Coalition is excited to work with the Historic Downtown Branson CID to bring this dream to life for our community,” explains McDowell. “We have always wanted to help make the downtown area a holiday showcase and these lamppost fixtures are a great start. We’re working now with some of the individual business and building owners downtown to install ‘curtains of lights,’ also recommended by our professional lighting designer, that will enhance the swirls of snowflakes and add dazzling color throughout the downtown area.”
“Although our timeline is extremely tight,” says Bohinc, “we are exceptionally grateful to the City of Branson who has worked with us to make this happen and will install the new lamppost fixtures that are expected to arrive in mid-October from the manufacturer based in Oregon. Our goal is to have Main and Commercial Streets shining like never before by November 1 this year, and possibly expand the lamppost displays to more downtown streets in 2023.”