A brighter downtown is here to stay

The new lights are designed to give a spirit of hope to the city.
YOUNGSTOWN -- It was the first trip downtown in years for Sue Pritchard of the West Side.
She worked downtown once, and remembered the hustle and bustle of Christmastime before the bad times rolled in. With her 8-year-old granddaughter, Haley, she decided at the last minute Saturday to see the lighting of the city's Christmas tree in Central Square.
"It's nice to see the lights and the square opened up. It looks better than it has in years," Pritchard said.
That sentiment is what backers of the campaign to light up the downtown are hoping for, that the new lights will give the downtown a new spirit.
Along with the Christmas tree are hundreds of new white lights, strung from trees up and down Market Street and along Federal, with spotlights to illuminate the monuments. Long after the Christmas tree is gone, the white lights will continue to shine, said Claire Maluso, who leads the effort to light up the city's center.
"It's permanent. They're timed to go on with the street lights," Maluso said.
About $13,000 has been raised of a $25,000 goal, enough money to light one end of Federal Street to the other, said Maluso. "We're still looking for donations."
Festive kickoff
The holiday festival kicked off with the horns and lights of Rescue 33 of the Youngstown Fire Department, which raced Santa, Frosty and Christmas Bear to the scene.
They provided distraction for the dozen children while the adults listed to the Plazateer Band and heard the stylized Broadway sound of the Youngstown Connection, the song and dance troupe from Youngstown City Schools.
As snow flurries whipped through and temperatures dropped into the 20s, the 50 people gathered in the growing dusk were rewarded by a bright display of white lights, clicking on quickly as switches were thrown by city officials.
The brightest lights of all were the smiles on the faces of Condridge Smith and his wife, Beverly, of Warren. They donated the 35-foot-tall blue spruce for the city's tree.
Mrs. Smith said she was inspired to give up the tree, which is on a rental property they own on Cameron Avenue in the city, by a winter visit to the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree in New York.
"I called and they said they were out scouting trees. They came right over and took it," Smith said.
XDonations in any amount can be sent to the Downtown Lighting Campaign, c/o Claire Maluso, Youngstown Department of Economic Development, 34 Federal Plaza West, Youngstown, OH 44503.