Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. will light holiday window decorations in its corporate headquarters beginning Thursday (11/16) evening.

The lighting will be held in conjunction with the Allentown Downtown Improvement District's ceremony marking the start of the traditional downtown holiday season.

"The PP&L holiday decorations are very popular with our communities," said Don Bernhard, PP&L's community development director in the Lehigh Valley area. "We're proud to display this visible symbol of our community spirit in the area and say 'Happy Holidays.' Our Tower Building creates a sense of identity for people and visitors in the Lehigh Valley."

The designs will feature a tree on the east side of the building and a candle on the west side. They will be lit using a combination of colored fluorescent tubes and window shades. The designs span 12 of the building's 23 stories — from the ninth through 20th floors. Holiday lighting will continue each evening through Jan. 7.

Bernhard noted that the light decorations use electricity efficiently. The fluorescent fixtures in each window require less wattage than incandescent bulbs and operate at a lower temperature. Since they will be lit during off-peak hours, they will not add to the company's daytime peak electricity use, he said.

The 322-foot high Tower Building, which was built in the mid-to-late 1920s, was lit in holiday motifs from the late 1950s through 1972. The practice was discontinued temporarily because of the energy crisis, and restarted in 1990.