Festoon Lights Going Up Over St. Germain Street in Downtown St. Cloud

(KNSI) – Crews are putting the finishing touches on the second phase of festoon lighting in downtown St. Cloud. For the last week, strings of decorative lights have been getting anchored to buildings along West St. Germain Street between 10th Avenue South and 7th Avenue South.

St. Cloud Community Development Director Matt Glaesman says the goal is to bring more character to the downtown area.

Jake Judd (KNSI News)

“Really trying to touch as many blocks as we can, starting at the Paramount, and then work our way east all the way to the Fifth Avenue intersection. But the objective is really to hit lights on each block, primarily focusing on those larger sidewalk stretches where folks can sit, you know, out and have meals, drinks, whatever, and enjoy the downtown environment.”

In April 2019, local businesses paid for festoon lighting along 5th Avenue South between 1st Street South and West St. Germain. The project was so successful; the group decided to do another section of lights downtown.

Glaesman says don’t be surprised if you notice other communities imitating what’s getting done in The Granite City.

“It’s really amazing, not only do we have local support, and people love the environment, and they go down, they enjoy that. But we get calls from other communities. How did you do that? And what was the partnership? Because they want to replicate it in their communities. So I think it’s really become a role model for downtown environment.”

The festoon lights will be lit up on Thursday night for the Paramount Theatre’s 100th-anniversary block party.

Local partners involved with getting the lights in St. Cloud include Batteries Plus Bulbs, Inventure Properties, BCI, Design Electric, and Blattner Energy.

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