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Promoters Will Pitch Plan To Save Celebration Of Lights

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Covered in cardboard and wrapped in plastic are two million Christmas lights shipped here straight from China.

The cost to county taxpayers is somewhere around $130,000 to $150,000 with a good chance they'll never be used.

They were ordered long before County Executive Rich Fitzgerald pulled the plug on the Hartwood Acres Celebration of Lights due to cost overruns.

Now outside promoters say they could pull this off this year.

The group from Charlotte, NC, is familiar with putting together what they describe as massive Christmas light show events at NASCAR's Charlotte motor speedway.

They say they have a plan to come to Pittsburgh, put this together fast, calling it a "plug in." They will not use taxpayer dollars and will make the county money.

The Charlotte group will be here next Tuesday with a firm plan for revenue, concessions, light displays – all of it led by Art McGovern who actually started the Pittsburgh Vintage Car Grand Prix.

In terms of co-operation from the county, Fitzgerald is ready to listen.

"There's probably a lot of different ways to take a look at it and we're certainly open to that," he said.

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