Pittsburgh’s official Christmas tree will be making its debut at the City-County Building’s Grant Street entrance this weekend.

The Forestry Division will transport and install the 106th City of Pittsburgh Christmas tree at the site this weekend ahead of a tree lighting ceremony Nov. 20.

As officials get the tree in position, Grant Street will be closed between Fourth and Forbes Avenues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday.

There will also be temporary lane and road closures beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday on Ollie Street in the Lincoln Place neighborhood and delays along Mifflin Road, the Glenwood Bridge, Irvine Street and Second Avenue as the tree is escorted Downtown, officials said.

The tree, which has been in Lincoln Place for decades, will be making a full circle journey as it returns to Downtown Pittsburgh to serve as the city’s official tree this year.

In the 1990s, the blue spruce was one of two small decorative trees that sat outside of the Pennsylvanian at Grant Street and Liberty Avenue. Chris Fuga, a former Pennsylvanian employee, took both trees home after the holiday season and planted them in his front yard in Lincoln Place.

Only one survived. The surviving tree flourished and became part of the Fuga family holiday traditions. The family decorated it every holiday season, till it became too big to decorate.

Now, more than 20 years later, the Fuga family is donating the tree to the city to be used to decorate Grant Street once again.

“It was like our tree was practicing for all of its life for this moment,” Fuga said.

The tree will adorn the City-County Building’s main entrance through the New Year, city officials said.

Decorating the entrance with a Christmas tree is one of Downtown’s oldest traditions, according to city officials. The first tree was put up on the construction site of the City-County building in 1914.

“It’s bittersweet to see the tree Downtown,” Carly Fuga, Chris Fuga’s youngest daughter, said. “It represents so many great childhood memories for our family, but I’m glad it will bring joy to so many others this holiday season.”

The annual City of Pittsburgh Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and City-County Building light show will move to a new date and time this year during the return of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s Highmark Light Up Night celebrations.

The event will begin at 4 p.m. Nov. 20, outside of the City-County Building. Festivities will feature River City Brass, Texture Contemporary Ballet, Pittsburgh CLO Holiday Melody and Pitches and Tones.

The tree will be lighted at 5 p.m., with rooftop fireworks marking the celebration for the first time.

The City-County Building Holiday Lightshow will perform at 5:20, 6:45 and 8 p.m.

This comes as the City-County Building also hosts the Gingerbread House Competition on the same date. The 19th annual event will bring the 60 award-winning gingerbread houses to be displayed behind glass on the building’s Grant Street Portico. The portico is open to the public around the clock and winning houses can be viewed until early January.

A full schedule of events for the Highmark Light Up Night is available online.

The city also will be hosting the annual Menorah Lighting on Nov. 29. Mayor Bill Peduto will join community leaders to light the candles for the second night of Hanukkah, as the menorah symbolizes freedom and peace for all. The celebration will include live music and refreshments.

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