By Arthur Foulkes
TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute is dressing up for the holidays.
Large lighted red and green wreaths, candles and Christmas packages are hanging from light posts downtown courtesy of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce and Duke Energy.
The decorations, which are placed on Wabash Avenue light posts each holiday season, line the city’s main street from Third Street to Ninth Street.
“They’re great,” said Rebecca Fehrmann of Paris, who was walking downtown Monday morning with her 3-year-old daughter Aria. “It’s traditional. It’s nice to see them up.”
For several years, Terre Haute’s downtown had no holiday decorations, said Rod Henry, president of the Chamber of Commerce. Then, about eight years ago, the Chamber’s “Cityscape” committee got to work raising money for decorations.
At first, just a few were hanging downtown. Now there are several bright and colorful decorations on each side of Wabash Avenue on every block between Ninth and Third streets.
“The goal is to put forth a bright, cheery holiday message,” Henry said. “It does give a feeling of warmth and excitement.”
Duke Energy workers, using bucket trucks, had the decorations up in just a few hours, Henry said. They started at 9 a.m. Monday and, with the help of the Terre Haute Police Department for traffic control, had all the decorations in place by noon, he said.
The Chamber’s Cityscape committee also places flags downtown each year between Memorial Day and Veterans Day, Henry said.
The decorations are a plus for the downtown, said Lou Corey, owner of Andrea’s Fine Footwear at 515 Wabash Ave. Corey, whose store occupies one of the oldest buildings in the city, and who plans to renovate his storefront soon, he noted. “There is real progress happening downtown.”
Others were a little less cheery about the downtown’s holiday facelift.
“They look pretty,” said Rob Robertson of Rogers Jewelers at Sixth Street and Wabash Avenue, but, he noted, they would look even better if there were fewer empty storefronts downtown.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
