Downtown's all a-glitter after lighting ceremony

Holiday lights winked on across downtown Salt Lake City on Friday night, ushering in the holiday season and marking the beginning of an era of change for the city's center.

More than 2 million lights came alive on downtown streets, as well as at Temple Square and at The Gateway, as part of the annual "Light's On" celebration that has officially opened the holiday retail season for 15 years. And while many stores have left the downtown malls in anticipation of new construction plans, the director of the Downtown Alliance, Robert Farrington, said he hopes this year's retail season will still lure shoppers and their wallets to the area.

"In a way, it's a bit of a celebration of what has been the same and a little bit of a send off for the next few years as well," Farrington said. "I think we're certainly interested in letting people know that at least through the holidays, it's pretty much business as usual."

For most downtown stores, "business as usual" means earning up to 40 percent of the year's revenues between now and Christmas, Farrington added. Although the Crossroads and ZCMI Center malls will undergo renovations next year, Farrington said neither of the major anchor stores, Nordstrom and Macy's, will be affected during the holiday shopping season.

"The good thing about an anchor store is they've got kind of their own heft and weight and market. They've really carried most of the smaller stores," he said. "One of the things that's happening nationwide is that department store sales are up, and so hopefully that's a good harbinger for the downtown stores as well."

The downtown lights, switched on this year by Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr., has been a Salt Lake tradition since the first modest nativity scene and lighting in the southeast corner of Temple Square in 1965. Now, the festivities have spread to much of the downtown area, including the Gallivan Center and The Gateway.

"I think Salt Lake puts on as good a lighting show as any city in the country does. When I first came here, I was just kind of blown away at how magical a feeling there is in the city during Christmas," Farrington said. "It's definitely something that left an impression on me."

This year, spectators watched as Huntsman flipped the official switch as an Elvis impersonator sang alongside Santa Claus. The power to all of the lights actually runs beneath the city's streets in a series of complicated switches and outlets.

"This is a season of remembering and giving and service to other people," Huntsman said. "Let's not forget the importance of truly going and making this the greatest community in the country."

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com