It's the most wonderful time of the year after all, as Lansing's downtown ornaments return

Kara Berg
Lansing State Journal

LANSING — Lansing's downtown holiday ornament sculpture will be returning after all thanks to a donation from a community member, the city said. 

The giant red Christmas tree ornaments that sat in the center of a roundabout in downtown Lansing at Michigan Avenue and Washington Square will be replaced before the annual Silver Bells in the City event Nov. 22, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said in a news release. 

Paul Gentilozzi and his family donated about $7,000 to fix and replace the sculpture after it was destroyed in 2018 in a hit-and-run crash

Police said this holiday sculpture in the roundabout on Michigan Avenue and Washington Square was damaged Sunday sometime between midnight at 6 a.m.

Deputy Mayor Samantha Harkins said Oct. 29 that the ornaments would not be repaired because the cost to fix it was more than they originally cost to build.

Harkins said the city was looking at alternatives to the bulbs. 

The cluster of four holiday ornaments decorated the center of the roundabout every year since 2009, not long after the roundabout was constructed. The ornaments got a new look in 2018 with a fresh coat of paint and a new snowflake design. 

"I am always happy to show off the vibrancy of Lansing through public art, and there is a great excitement around these holiday ornaments during our holiday season," Schor said in a news release. "I appreciate that the Gentilozzi family stepped up and offered dollars to restore and return the ornaments to the traffic circle downtown."

Gentilozzi is the president of Gentilozzi Real Estate and a managing partner of 3GT Racing.

"As a fifty-year property and business owner in Lansing, the Gentilozzi family is thrilled to work with the City of Lansing to fix the iconic holiday ornaments and return it to the traffic circle in time for Silver Bells in the City 2019," Gentilozzi said in a news release from the city. 

The city will also place a new art piece, "Sundance," in the City Hall Plaza. The piece was displayed at Old Town's ScrapFest in 2019 and was designed by Lansing artist Bob Welton.

In light of Gentilozzi's donations, Lukas Liming, an Okemos High School student who started a crowdfunding campaign to pay for repairing the traffic circle sculpture, said he's ending the campaign.

The campaign had raised more than $50, all of which will be returned, he said.

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Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.