City of Hamtramck Brings Back Christmas Lights

Hamtramck, Mich—After going without a holiday lighting display for more than 15 years the City of Hamtramck will be a little brighter this holiday season. Thanks to the efforts of the City of Hamtramck Downtown Development Authority and HolidayLEDs.com a Michigan-based company, the City of Hamtramck will decorate more than 40 trees in the downtown with more than 18,500 LED Christmas lights.

The City of Hamtramck, like many Michigan communities, has struggled for years because of the changing economy in Michigan. It ran such a high deficit into year 2000 that it was taken into receivership by the State of Michigan. The municipality emerged from receivership in 2006, and, thanks to the efforts of its diverse community and the members of its Downtown Development Authority, things are looking brighter. “We haven't been able to afford a holiday lighting display for a long time and wouldn't have been able to do it this year without the help from HolidayLEDs.com,” said Eve Knepp, the DDA Director. HolidayLEDs.com, an e-commerce company located in Jackson, Michigan provided the more than 18,500 energy-efficient Christmas lights to the City at a subsidized rate.

“Our residents have been upset for years that we haven't been able to have a holiday display and its going to be great to give them one this year,” added Knepp. The City attempted to have a lighting display last year but had a very small budget that only allowed it to purchase used decorations. The used decorations fell apart and the display never came to fruition. “I read that HolidayLEDs.com had donated some Christmas lights to some town in Alaska so I gave them a call to see if they could help us,” Knepp explained.

After some discussion, HolidayLEDs.com agreed to help the City by offering the lights at a highly subsidized rate. “When Eve contacted us we had just agreed to donate some lights to the City of Fairbanks so I wasn't sure if we could help Hamtramck as well,” said Philip C. Curtis president of HolidayLEDs.com. “But after some thought we decided that we couldn't turn down a city in need in our own backyard after helping one thousands of miles away,” Curtis explained.

The new LED Christmas lights will be installed in the trees which line Joseph Campau in Downtown Hamtramck. The lights will be installed on or about November 20th and remain on display until after the New Year. The energy-efficient LED lights use about 90% less electricity than standard incandescent lights and are rated to last nearly 10 times as long.

For more information about the City of Hamtramck display please contact Eve Knepp at (313) 870-0346.