Bright lights adorn downtown Jefferson City

Christmas lights on the corner of Madison and High streets were turned on Friday evening for the first time. The lights were part of a $15,000 project to replace the old lights with newer LEDs that will last longer and cost less to maintain.
Christmas lights on the corner of Madison and High streets were turned on Friday evening for the first time. The lights were part of a $15,000 project to replace the old lights with newer LEDs that will last longer and cost less to maintain.

Downtown Jefferson City is now adorned in the Christmas spirit.

The Downtown Association turned on brand new holiday lights - sponsored by community members, businesses and fundraisers - Friday evening.

The old lights were more than 15 years old and were replaced last week with LED lights.

Downtown Jefferson City will continue to accept donations for the lights on its website, downtownjeffersoncity.com, and at Living Windows on Dec. 6.

"It's costing us $15,000 to do this, so we are taking donations to help with the cost," said Stephanie Bell, president of Downtown Jefferson City. "We've been told that these new lights will be very reliable and can last as long as five years before any maintenance needs to be done on them."