BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Nov. 28, 2025 – Regions Bank on Friday flipped the switched and ushered in the start of the Christmas season in Birmingham with the annual holiday lighting of the bank’s headquarters tower.
The 30-story Regions Center proudly displays illuminated Christmas trees, a huge wreath, and a massive stocking during the holiday season every year. The first night of the illumination is always the night after Thanksgiving. The display continues until New Year’s Day.
Deno Posey, executive vice president of Enterprise Operations for Regions, hosted the bank’s lighting ceremony Friday evening, welcoming people from throughout metro Birmingham, all of whom seemed to have a special memory associated with the Christmas display that dates back decades.
It takes a few months to get the display installed each year. The design has to come down each spring so the Regions Tradition golfer can be displayed.
“The display has been going on since the 1970s, and every year, we want to honor this tradition while also doing something new and different to celebrate the season with our neighbors,” Posey shared. “Having the Birmingham Youth and Young Adult Fellowship Choir with us this year, along with country-pop singer and songwriter Marissa Luna, took the lighting ceremony to a whole new level. And, of course, Santa Claus – what a treat for the children to get to meet him and tell him what they’re hoping to find under their family’s tree.”
As for Regions’ own trees – the ones on the east and west sides of the building – they’ve been built over the last couple months through the installation of red and green “gel sleeves” installed above windows between the fifth and 28th floors. The same manual process is followed for the wreath on the south side of the building and the stocking on the north. The white lights need no “gel sleeve” as white light tubes were installed above the building’s windows during construction from 1968 until 1971.
At the time, the building was home to the First National Bank of Birmingham and a company called Sonat – or Southern Natural Gas. The light tubes were intended to make the building glow in bright light every night, year-round. And it did for a while. But the energy crisis of the 1970s brought that to an end, until a few years later, when the story goes that a Sonat executive saw a building in Houston that had a similar design and used it to illuminate a Christmas display. He brought the idea back to Birmingham, and the rest is part of the skyline’s history.
While the Regions Center benefits from a whole team of professionals who keep the tower running smoothly, the annual installation of the Christmas displays is led by one man – Alexander Newell.
Alexander Newell shows the grid that defines which color should illuminate from above each window that makes up the display. More than 2,600 windows combine to form the holiday images.
Newell, a Birmingham native who grew up seeing the display, has worked in the Regions Center for 13 years. Specifically, he works for BGIS Facilities Management, a company Regions uses to help keep the tower in top shape. Over the years, Newell became well known for walking around each floor of the building on internal ledges underneath each window. He carries grids showing which colors go over which window, he installs the gel – and then moves to the next one.
Newell generally keeps his back to the window – without looking down dozens, or even hundreds, of feet below to surrounding streets.
Why is Newell the one installer each year? We’re told the other crew members aren’t too fond of the ledge. But what we can certainly confirm is Newell absolutely loves the role of installing the displays.
“It makes me so proud every year,” Newell said. “And now that we’ve started doing a special lighting ceremony, that makes it even more special. This really is our own Christmas gift to the people of Birmingham. It’s one we all can enjoy. And it means a lot to me that I have an opportunity to serve a role in keeping this tradition alive.”
This really is our own Christmas gift to the people of Birmingham. It’s one we all can enjoy.
Alexander Newell
In the spring, Newell will remove most of the red and green gel sleeves and install separate ones that combine to form a golfer in celebration of the annual Regions Tradition tournament.
“Each time we install a new display, we run a lot of tests,” added Greg Gammill, vice president of Critical Facilities at Regions Bank. “We have people positioned around downtown after dark or early in the morning to look over the windows and make sure all the lights are working, and all the right colors are in the right place. We know people look forward to these displays. They really are part of the Christmas tradition here in our headquarters city. Visitors know they are home for the holidays when they see this. And we take our commitment to continuing this tradition very seriously.”
A few other designs beyond the holiday displays and the golfer have been installed in previous decades. The building was illuminated in a patriotic display showing “USA” and an American flag during the Gulf War in 1991. Then, in 1996, an Olympic torch and rings were illuminated as Birmingham hosted soccer games during the ’96 Atlanta Olympics.
From the 1996 Olympics to the 1991 Gulf War to the annual Regions Tradition golf tournament, the tower has been known to share a variety of images over time.
“The Regions Center has been at the heart of the city’s skyline for over 50 years, and our Christmas displays have been a signature of this tower for more than 40 of those years,” said Christian White, Birmingham market executive for Regions Bank. “We see posts on social media every year celebrating the return of the displays, and people share with us their memories of seeing them as a child or even spotting them out the window of an airplane before they land at the airport. We’re proud of how these displays have become a Birmingham tradition, and as we illuminate the Regions Center once again, we wish everyone a peaceful, joyous holiday season.”
We’re proud of how these displays have become a Birmingham tradition, and as we illuminate the Regions Center once again, we wish everyone a peaceful, joyous holiday season.
Christian White, Birmingham market executive for Regions Bank
About Regions Financial Corporation
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $160 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,250 banking offices and more than 1,850 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.