Pueblo Downtown Association's Streetscape Project
Amenities added to make Downtown
Pueblo's streets more appealing. Benches Planters Trash Receptacles Bike Racks Christmas Decorations Banners Watering & maintenance of flowers 
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The Pueblo Downtown Association has installed a holiday lighting display in the Headwaters Plaza, featuring a 20’ “tree” near the fountain. Additional decorations for the Plaza include four lamp posts wrapped with red and white lights in a candy cane pattern and four deciduous trees wrapped with white lights. The project was spearheaded by board member Mike Carlisle and Southern Colorado Holiday & Event Lighting.
This display adds to the decorations on light poles in the area between City Center Drive and 10th Street on Santa Fe Ave, Main Street, Court Street and Grand Avenue. All decorations were purchased by the Pueblo Downtown Association through fund-raising activities. Black Hills Energy has graciously provides their employees to handle installation of the decorations. It has been a goal of the Pueblo Downtown Association to keep the area looking festive and well cared for year round and especially during the holiday season. 
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Op-Ed from Pueblo Chieftain
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WARD-MASIAS: Making Christmas bright isn’t easy or inexpensive
Margaret Ward-Masias Published: January 9, 2017; Last modified: January 9, 2017 11:30PM I am writing this in response to the Jan. 3 letter from Mike Occhiato about “Christmas Spirit.” Occhiato denigrates the “1980s-era” light pole decorations as not up to his high standards. It is true that they do not line every building and tree in the area as the ones on B Street do. B Street is two blocks long. Santa Fe, Main, Court, Grand and side streets cover almost 50 blocks in the Downtown area. The Downtown Association purchased most of the 1980s lights in the 1990s and up to 2010; a total of 100 fixtures at $350 to $450 each — that is $35,000 to $45,000 total, not counting the expense of replacing bulbs every few years. This year, the association did fund a large display in the Headwaters Park at City Center Drive and Union; we do intend to add to that for the next few years as funding permits. Occhiato also is correct in saying the hanging decorations almost are extinct; every new pole which is installed in the area is a pole that does not have a power outlet, so no hanging decoration there. The association has operated on an approximate budget of $60,000 to $70,000 per year for the past few years. Not only do we do what we can to make the area look better during the Christmas holidays, we also purchased and maintain the wrought-iron planters, trash receptacles and most of the benches in the area. Current price for the nearly 100 pieces is nearly $1,000 per piece installed (another $100,000). In addition, we have paid for maintaining plants each summer, another $5,000 per year for the 20 years since the project began — most of which comes from our income. The Pueblo Downtown Association is a membership organization; no one is forced to support our efforts. Individual businesses decide for themselves if they feel what we do is worth the cost of dues for the year. We are talking about small independent businesses that cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars per year to make the streets look like the ideal holiday season we all would like to see. The association must devote funds to other endeavors besides appearance; we have retail/restaurant members who need to be promoted as much as possible. We need to communicate with as many businesses in the area as possible on a regular basis and we have provided limited matching funding for sidewalk improvement and security cameras for members. I wonder why Occhiato did not mention the mall and other centers on the north side; I haven’t even seen outdated efforts to provide outdoor decorations up there. Margaret Ward-Masias is the executive director of the Pueblo Downtown Association. |
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