Yes, Pittsburgh, there is a Christmas tree in PPG Place … in October.
Owner Highwoods Properties replaced the 20-year-old decoration with a state-of-the-art tree with more than 100,000 LED lights. It can be programmed via a computer for shows choreographed to music.
“The old tree was past its useful life,” said Andy Wisniewski, senior vice president for Highwoods Properties. “This is the most technologically advanced tree you can get. It will be a wonderful addition to the city.”
Wisniewski said they decided to install the tree early to make sure it was working properly. There will be some tests of it over the next few weeks. It will officially debut on Nov. 19 — the day before Light Up Night, which was moved to Nov. 20, a Saturday, this year. Usually held the Friday before Thanksgiving, the event was moved as part of a refresh by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership for the 60th anniversary celebration. Part of the party will include the lighting of Downtown buildings and various trees.
The skating rink that surrounds the tree will also open on Nov. 19. The size of the rink won’t change.
The tree was installed over the weekend and will be up through the first week of January.
The tree is 60 feet tall with a 28-foot base like the former one. The LED lights are energy efficient.
The tree will be lit for the American Cancer Society’s Tribute of Lights Ceremony on Light Up Night. A child who is a cancer survivor lights the tree, which will be surrounded by the ice skating rink.
“We would much rather see pumpkins in the plaza, but we wanted to make sure the installation of the tree went smoothly,” Wisniewski said. “And there was no way to hide this tree. The plan is to install it later in the year next year.
“We wanted to make sure everything was working behind the scenes,” he said. “It is going to be spectacular when we unveil it. With the pandemic the past year and half, we felt we wanted to bring something wonderful to this city and PPG Place.”
He said the company has made a “significant investment” in the tree from S4 Lights. He said with restricted attendance last year, 65,000 people skated at the PPG rink.
“There are other trees like this in the world, but this has to be one of the unique locations in that it is over an ice rink Downtown in a city,” Wisniewski said. “I realize seeing a tree on an 80-degree day in October is a little bit of a shock. But it will look great on a cold day in December with people skating around it.”
