PPL Corp. will renew a Lehigh Valley holiday tradition Thursday night (11/16) with the return of lighted decorations on its headquarters building in downtown Allentown.

The decorations will be lit during a 6 p.m. ceremony at 7th and Hamilton streets, two blocks from the PPL building. The lighting ceremony is sponsored by the Allentown Downtown Improvement District Authority.

PPL’s holiday display features a tree design on the east side of the building and a candle design on the west side. A combination of colored fluorescent light tubes and window shades are used to create the designs.

Both the tree and candle take up 12 stories of PPL’s 23-story headquarters building. On clear winter nights they are visible for miles throughout the Lehigh Valley.

"The PPL building is a Lehigh Valley landmark, and the decorations are a tradition that contribute to the local holiday spirit," said Don Bernhard, manager of Economic Development and Community Affairs for PPL Utilities.

The PPL building opened in 1928. The holiday display first appeared in the 1950s and continued until the energy crisis of the 1970s. PPL resumed the display in 1990, with fluorescent lighting that uses much less electricity than the old incandescent lights.