For a century, East Cleveland’s Nela Park has been a source of local holiday cheer when it lights up with more than one million bulbs in a display of festive scenes. It’s also a showcase of historic innovation. The 92-acre Noble Road park has served as the headquarters for GE Lighting since 1913, just two years after East Cleveland was incorporated as a city. It only makes sense for a developer of holiday lights to show off their stuff, right?
Since 1924, the company’s holiday lights have drawn thousands of visitors every year. “There’s generations of joy,” says GE Lighting President Kathy Sterio. “People love it. People get really excited. They talk about family that worked here. They talk about visiting here as kids, and they talk about hopefully bringing their kids here someday.”
This year, Nela Park lights up on Dec. 6 and will be illuminated every day, at every hour, until Jan. 6. The display is ultimately the product of months’ worth of work, says GE Holiday Lighting Designer Debbie George, who hand-builds and selects displays starting in July.
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Nela Park isn’t the only space where you can see George’s and GE’s work; she also designs the National Tree on the Ellipse at the White House — a replica of which stands tall at the entrance of the East Cleveland headquarters.
Expect some extra fun in store for the 100th anniversary of the tradition. “When you think of 100 years, you think of an anniversary or birthday or celebration,” George says. “For the very first year, this year, we have decorated our coal tower as a giant candle.”
Not only that, but the striking brick tower will sport GE’s Cync smart lights that change colors to music. Elements of GE’s newest tech are embedded every year in the Santa hats, gingerbread houses and Christmas tree displays that stretch along Noble Road.
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“Over time, seeing us going from older incandescent technology to LED, to now, using our connected technology — the fact that we’ve been here for over 100 years and we’re still innovating and still coming out with new things that are really interesting and fun, that people can use in their own homes, to me, is a really big deal,” Sterio says.
(Judy and Barbara Allen pose with a candy cane in 1953.)
There’s a lot of modern technology and a lot of history here. Nela (which stands for National Electric Lamp Association) Park opened before its surroundings developed. Over the years, GE’s demands and shifts changed its use of the campus. Today, buildings that once were used for manufacturing now host product testing, administration, a merchandising center and a company museum.
Oh, and — George is quick to add — a Christmas storage room. One that’s stuffed to the brim with past displays, a wood shop and a carefully organized selection of LED lights that cycle in and out every few years. “It’s packed,” George says. “It’s Santa’s workshop.”
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In a major shift, GE sold Nela Park to property management company Phoenix Investors in 2022, and GE signed a long-term lease to stay on-site.
“We wanted to cherish it and treat it with the respect it deserves and put it in the hands of somebody who does real estate development,” Sterio says. “We don’t disclose the terms, but we are committed to being in Nela Park.”
Those interested in viewing the lights should park nearby and walk along Noble Road to see them through the park’s fence. (The display’s drive-through experience ended in 1959 when thousands of cars congested neighborhood streets, George explains.)
The lights will illuminate at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 6, when Sterio flips the switch with a special guest.
“I think it is really important for us as employees to really give back to the communities where we work,” Sterio says. “East Cleveland has been our home for so long that it is a big source of pride for us to try to help bring some joy to this community.”
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