City staff propose $394,189 holiday decor plan for Downtown Bryan and Midtown Park

Kathy Capps of Executive Services presented an expanded holiday-decor and lighting package for Downtown Mounts Library Plaza and Midtown Park, describing large-scale, photo-oriented elements and a proposed funding approach.

Capps outlined a downtown "Peppermint Trail" with 16 design clusters, multiple photo moments (giant Nutcracker, frames, a Santa sleigh and topiary deer), 48 lollipop features and dozens of lit trees; she said the downtown budget for those elements (including freight and fencing) is $255,802. For Midtown Park she proposed 12 star-shaped pole mounts, spiral lit trees for roundabouts and scaled elements for the Legends Event Center entrance, with a Midtown budget of $138,387. She asked council to consider using an unused decision-package allocation of $355,000 approved last year for Midtown Park to fund both projects, noting the combined proposed cost is roughly $40,000 more than that unused allocation.

"We installed a 48 foot LED panel tree in front of Mount's library that syncs up with music," Capps said, describing how the installations created community photo opportunities last year. Council members asked about power availability in roundabouts and whether certain architectural elements (columns at the Carnegie Library) should be preserved; staff said power is available and that aesthetic integrity had been a prior consideration. The council did not take a formal vote during the workshop but discussed next steps and thanked staff for the proposal.