BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Nov. 29, 2024 – The switch is flipped. The lights are on. And with the nightly illumination of Birmingham’s Regions Center, a sure sign of the season in Central Alabama is back!
The 30-story tower in the city’s center serves as the headquarters of Regions Bank. Each year, teams from the bank set up the designs of Christmas trees, a giant wreath and a huge stocking that light up the glass “curtain wall” design of the building in a brilliant display. Whether standing on Red Mountain, driving by on the Interstate, or even landing at the airport, the vivid red, green and white colors can be seen for miles as a holiday tradition that’s been in place for more than a generation.
The lighting began in the 1970s when the building that is now the Regions Center was shared by First National Bank of Birmingham and Southern Natural Gas. Regions Bank has kept the tradition alive.
New this year, Regions Bank hosted a lighting ceremony at the base of the tower Friday evening. There, bank leaders flipped the switch for the display that will remain illuminated each night until New Year’s Day.
Deno Posey, executive vice president of Enterprise Operations for Regions, left, hosted the lighting ceremony that featured food, fun and music, including from popular Birmingham vocalist Lucas Pepke, right.
“Every year since the 1970s, this building has celebrated the season in a way that’s become a Birmingham tradition, and Regions Bank is proud to keep that tradition alive,” said Deno Posey, executive vice president of Enterprise Operations for Regions. Posey hosted the lighting ceremony that recognized the diligent work of teams who ensure the display is ready each year.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into this and a lot of testing to make sure all the right lights and all the right colors are in place,” Posey added. “Teams comb through the building with grids showing which colors are needed in which windows. Then, they place ‘gel sleeves’ on the lights above each window that’s part of the designs. Their work pays off in a beautiful display.”
The ceremony included comments from Alexander Newell, second from left, from facility management company BGIS. Newell takes particular pride in his work to help create the Regions Center Christmas displays each year. Musical acts throughout the ceremony included students from Mason Music who generated lots of holiday cheer before the sun set and the display illuminated.
Crews reassemble the display each year because the same lights are used in the spring to illuminate a giant golfer on the sides of the building in celebration of the annual Regions Tradition golf tournament. For that design, different colors of gel sleeves are wrapped around the lights to create the image of the athlete teeing off. The red and green sleeves from the Christmas display are stored until later in the year, when the holiday images return.
Teams use grids showing which windows should get which colors. The stocking is on the north side of the tower; the wreath is on the south; and the trees illuminate the east and west sides.
“After the Christmas trees, wreath and stocking designs are put back in place, we illuminate the building a few times in the early morning hours during the fall to ensure we’ll be ready for the night after Thanksgiving, which is always the first night of the display,” said Greg Gammill, vice president of Critical Facilities at Regions Bank. “Most recently, we’ve seen social media posts where people capture an image of those tests and declare that it’s almost the holiday season. Now that the season is here, we’ll keep watch on the display and ensure it shines bright every night.”
The Christmas lighting is made possible by a feature installed during the building’s construction, which was completed in 1971.
Back then, the building was shared by the First National Bank of Birmingham and a company called Sonat – or Southern Natural Gas. A white light tube was placed above every window starting on the fifth floor, spreading all the way up to just a couple floors below the top. The idea was to have the building displaying bright white light every evening.
The golfer image in the weeks leading up to the Regions Tradition serves as the other annual display on the Regions Center tower.
The energy crisis of the 1970s brought that to an end. But in the following years, it is said a Sonat executive saw a building in Houston that had a similar design and used it to illuminate a Christmas display during the holidays. He brought the idea back to Birmingham, and the result is a tradition that remains strong to this day.
The Regions Center was illuminated in a patriotic display (left) during the 1991 Gulf War. The building displayed the Olympic torch and rings (right) during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
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.
“This tower is more than a key element of the city’s skyline; it has also brought the community together through meaningful displays over the years,” said Christian White, Birmingham market executive for Regions Bank. “With the return of the Christmas trees, the wreath, and the stocking tonight, we extend our best wishes to our headquarters city for a joyful holiday season.”
About Regions Financial Corporation
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $157 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 2,000 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.