Light Up Corning

Corning Intown District Management Association (CIDMA) and Corning’s Gaffer District are pleased to
announce that ALL the trees on Market Street will be lit for the 2025 holiday season!
Three years ago, it was decided by the boards of CIDMA and Corning’s Gaffer District to reduce the number of lighted trees to those in Centerway Square, at the street corners, and around the crosswalks of Market Street. This decision was not easy but the boards concluded that lighting all the trees that line Market Street was extremely cost prohibitive and not sustainable.
The community has been very disappointed that this long-standing tradition was discontinued and there has been much confusion as to why this decision was made. For transparency sake, the decision was made for the following reasons: First, for environmental responsibility and longevity of the strands the tree lights were converted LED. Second, due to inflation, as well as current economic factors (tariffs) the cost per strand of lights increased even. Third, the cost of installation went up by approximately 20% to compensate for the increased costs in doing business. Lastly, there were expensive infrastructure issues in our light poles - power outlets were disconnected causing a loss of electricity, especially in the fifth block of Market. The cost of lighting all the trees just on Market Street increased by over 75% in just a few years!
After two years of this partial lighting and considerable public outcry, we have decided to use our one-time funds from a newly received COVID employee retention credit combined with CIDMA operating funds to relight the remainder of the trees on Market Street and add additional lighting on Bridge Street. While we were able to use these funds, we do need to replenish them.
The tree lighting initiative is not sustainable as it is currently functioning. The current total cost for a five-year lighting tree cycle is $187,000.
We need the community’s help to keep this program running! During the last couple of years, the community has expressed a strong interest in being part of the solution to bring back the tree lights. The Gaffer District has established a sponsorship and donation program where individuals and businesses can sponsor a tree.

Introducing “Light Up Corning”
This adopt a tree program will be $1000 a tree for the full cycle, $500 for a half, $250 for a quarter, and an option to donate any amount desired. Donors can pledge their support, and if desired break their donation into monthly installments. We will provide marketing for any donor who would like recognition. The recognition will be listed on a new Light Up Corning page of our website (under construction), newsletter mentions, social media posts, signage in Centerway Square, signage at strategic locations on Market Street and Bridge Street, and QR codes strategically placed around town and given as stickers to business owners. These QR codes will allow anyone who scans the code to see everyone who donated to make our community sparkle. Of course, there is always the option to donate without recognition.
The Gaffer District is also exploring other events to celebrate our trees! Stay tuned for celebrations around Arbor Day and Earth Day. We will also leave the trees lit through the dark part of the winter in January and February to remind us that while winter is long in Upstate NY, the heart of our community is always shining. The District has additional goals as well. With support from Corning Incorporated, Downtown Decorations was hired to consult and design a comprehensive downtown strategy for holiday lights. With this reinvigorated motivation, CIDMA and Corning’s Gaffer District is excited to expand from Market Street onto Bridge and around the district, making Corning sparkle and lighting the long days of winter. 

What is a “cycle?”
A cycle is the length of time that the lights can stay in the trees. The trees grow and the lights constrict around the trunk and branches. It has been determined that the maximum length of time that lights can remain in the trees is five years. At the end of the cycle, the lights need to be cut out of the trees, the trees need to be trimmed, and the lights need to be reinstalled. It is more cost effective to cut the lights out of the trees during pruning than to remove the strands and reinstall them. The installation takes many hours of work by a contractor with a lift. Every year, some lights go out necessitating the contractor to come out and replace the lights on the trees that don't work - sometimes that is relighting the whole tree, sometimes we can replace a strand. The five year cycle for our trees on Market Street costs approximately $187,000. The first year with the full light replacement is the most expensive with consecutive years costing approximately $27,000 a year for maintenance.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to Catherine at the Gaffer District –
price@gafferdistrict.com