Christmas decorations a persistent problem in Corbin

Several people have commented to me about the Christmas decorations in Corbin. I guess some of these comments were directed to me because at one time I worked to improve the condition of the lights. The comment I’ve heard most often is that so many don’t burn. There are several decorations, even the new ones, that remain dark.

Another comment I’ve heard several times is that the new decorations are hardly visible at night and are small. When I was asked what I thought the new decorations cost, I answered about $50 each plus the bracket. Never in my wildest dream would I have guessed $283 each. That shows how much I know about the cost of decorations. But a friend who heard about the cost and has had experience of decorating downtown areas called me today and said Corbin maybe should have shopped around. I don’t know if they could have done better or not. But after seeing the $14,150 price tag for the decorations, in my mind I started to compare that cost with what it must have cost the city of London to decorate its town.

If you haven’t been to London during the Christmas season, let me tell you, that for a small town, it has the most beautiful decorations I have ever seen. All the buildings are outlined in lights and the lamp posts are decorated with lights and garland. It is like a live Christmas card. I called several people to try to find out what it cost, but either they didn’t know or weren’t willing to tell me. I did find out that London’s city workers did all the work of putting up the lights which remain on the buildings throughout the year. This is the second year the city has had this display.

I don’t advocate copying London in Corbin. For one thing there are so many holes left from fires and the wrecking ball that it would be hard to be consistent. And then there are those Interstate lights along Main Street. Years ago I had a running battle with friends of mine who I disagreed with and were in charge of putting new lights on Main Street when the new roadwork was done. I pressed for lamp posts in this column. At one time the director of economic development and the chamber of commerce contacted businesses to see if each business would buy lights for their buildings. The city of Harlan had done this and she wanted it for Corbin. I was all for it, but apparently I was in the minority.

Since that time Corbin has seen an influx of money. There is a payroll tax that gained widespread popularity in towns all over the Commonwealth and has brought riches here. There is a restaurant tax that brings in plenty of money. It may be the savior of the new civic arena. But it also has lined the coffers of the tourism commission and they have written checks freely for the Main Street program. Then why can’t this money pay to have a few Christmas decorations work properly?

In addition to London take a drive to Barbourville and see the decorations along the waterpark. A few years ago the decorations were so bad it was embarrassing. We took every decoration to the Civic Center and placed new bulbs in every standard. Then to our dismay when some were placed on poles they remained dark. Maybe it is time the city of Corbin, like London, got involved and helped with this. The problem hasn’t been fixed for years, maybe they can fix it.

Or, how about the tourism commission do what was recommended in a survey by the Ky. Association for Economic Development and hire a director to oversee such matters.