Non-profit wants to start Christmas tradition at Legion Stadium

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wilmington City Progress seeks City Council’s permission to start a new Christmas tradition.

Several years ago the city moved the decade-old Christmas celebration from around the tree at Hilton Park to the Rotary. The tree formal used for the ceremony at the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant is unhealthy, which is one of the reasons CFPUA, who owns that land, wants to cut it down.

Now Wilmington City Progress hopes to plant a Live Oak tree at Legion Stadium and have that be the new home for Christmas celebrations for generations to come.

“The infrastructure is there, the parking is there. There are restrooms there. It’s on a major thoroughfare where it would be easy to find and see and access. We just felt like it would be a good formula,” said Wilmington City Council member Charlie Rivenbark, who supports the idea.

Organizers estimate the cost of a new tree to be $3,815. A price they say would be paid for by fundraising. They also proposed that if the old tree were to be cut down, it could be used to create mementos. They allege the mementos would then in turn be sold and the profits be put toward the cost of the new tree.

They say they are not asking council for any money. They just ask council to take ownership of the tree and maintain it after it is installed.

Rivenbark says an artist is working on a conceptual rending for this proposal. He guesses between six and seven parking spaces would be lost if council approves of planting the Live Oak at Legion Stadium.