What will become of the PPL Tower's iconic Christmas light display? With PPL Electric vacating, it's uncertain

Since the 1930s, the PPL Tower in downtown Allentown has been home to one of the Lehigh Valley's most iconic symbols of the Christmas holiday season.

From late November to early January every year, the 23-story building illuminates its windows bright green and red in the unmistakable shape of a Christmas tree on the building's east-facing side, and a yellow-and-red candle light display on the building's west-facing side.

But the future of the colorful display is in question now that PPL Corp. has announced it will vacate the building. The company's 400 employees will soon relocate to nearby Two City Center, and the tower will be put up for sale.

Will the tower's future owner maintain the near century-long tradition?

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said he will push the building's future developer to maintain the annual lights display. It's something city officials could push for while the building goes through an official city planning review, he said.

"My hope is that, whoever acquires this property will maintain [the lights] — I feel like we need to get that in a written agreement of sale, the Christmas tree can remain in perpetuity," Tuerk said. "That's something we could reasonably ask a future developer."

The Christmas display has had many iterations in its roughly 90-year history, according to PPL Electric's website. It began shortly after the tower was built in 1928, and initially, colored cellophane was plastered over the clear glass windows to create the display.

The display went dark for a few years in the 1970s during an energy crisis. In 2013, PPL switched to LED lights on specially designed window shades, which saved the company around 50% on energy costs and allowed PPL to add an ornament to the top of the tree that gradually changes color.

It's a relatively labor-intensive process to keep the tradition going, according to PPL's website. It requires a "coordinated effort" from employees to remember to draw the shades in the lit windows at the end of the day, even as many employees continue to work remotely.

Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at [email protected].

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