BBA Announces Pilot Project to Add Holiday Lighting Downtown

Burlington, VT – The Burlington Business Association (BBA) is excited to announce that a pilot project of a new initiative to install holiday lighting along Burlington’s side streets downtown is underway. In its first year, lights will be installed on street lamps that line College Street, from South Winooski to St. Paul Street. The white holiday lights will be installed by the Burlington Electric Department, who helped to facilitate the initiative.

This project was made possible by generous donations from Northfield Savings Bank, Burton and Burlington Telecom Business Services. Each of these companies came on board with enthusiastic support when the project was proposed.

The idea to add holiday lights to the side streets came from the BBA’s Downtown Action Group committee, whose members proposed it as a way to extend the festive feeling of Church Street along Burlington’s side streets. A grass roots effort was quickly underway, championed by Kara Alnasrawi, DAG Committee Chair and owner of Liebling women’s boutique on College street. Alnasrawi was enthusiastically joined by Zandy Wheeler, BBA Board Member and owner of SKIRACK and Patagonia to assist with outreach and fundraising.

Winter lights create a warm, welcoming environment on the street to coincide with the festive winter season, provide additional safety through well lit streets, and are an effective way to help drive holiday traffic to College street and further extend the holiday vibrancy through the downtown. Since it was proposed, the project has garnered interest from other side street businesses, and the BBA will aim to work with businesses throughout the downtown to expand the scope of the lighting to include side streets like Bank Street and Cherry Street for upcoming holiday seasons.

The Burlington Business Association, founded in 1978, is a non-profit, non-political membership organization with over 240 business and non-profit members. Our mission is to enhance and promote the economic vitality of Burlington, Vermont, and to assure that the City of Burlington continues as the cultural, social, political, educational and economic center of northwestern Vermont.

See NBC5’s coverage of this story here: https://www.mynbc5.com/article/burlington-businesses-expand-church-street-holiday-lights/8508472