Acton’s dazzling “Snow Crystal” lights are certainly a bright departure from previous years' lighting displays. Thirty of the eight-pointed pole light LED fixtures have been placed along Mill Street East from Main Street to the railroad tracks. Halton Hills Electrical Contracting was hired for the installation of the lights.
According to Downtown Acton BIA coordinator Matthew Galliford: “One of the benefits of the new lights are how bright they are and that they are not Christmas-specific, more of just a holiday season light fixture. This will allow us to enjoy them a little longer in the new year rather than having to remove Christmas-themed lights in a hurry.”
The Snow Crystal design uses white LED lights along with some blue lights to provide trim. Although much brighter than last year's lights, Galliford thinks there will be no increase in power consumption. “In comparison to power usage, they are about the same as the LED light strings that we have replaced,” he said.
The light fixtures are manufactured by Classic Displays of Mississauga, Ont., but these were actually bought second-hand from the St. Catherine's BIA at a fraction of what brand-new lights would have cost. According to Galliford, the Downtown Acton BIA had been negotiating with its counterpart in St. Catherine's since May 2023. “We negotiated and purchased the lot of 30 snowflakes for about 1/6th of the retail total before taxes,” said Galliford.
“Replacing the former lights has been a topic of conversation for a while over the years. The former lights required some refurbishment each year and have had some problems in the past. Replacement this year wasn't really a thought until this opportunity came up,” added Galliford. “We hope to enjoy these "new-to-us" lights for many years to come. Service and maintenance of them is relatively inexpensive, an important factor in budgeting for annual beautification projects each year.”
Supplemental to the pole lighting fixtures, Galliford stated that his organization is working to have small holiday light displays in various places around the Downtown Acton BIA area. “We have also been distributing white artificial trees to shops and stores around town as part of a light up the downtown initiative. Some of the shops and services are decorating the trees to reflect what the business offers. Others are decorating the tree to suit their business colour scheme.”
Comments