MANSFIELD — Scott Trumpower wants to bring his Christmas magic to the front lawn of the Richland County Courthouse.
The Mansfield resident — who designed the outdoor forest of “tree light” displays at Kingwood Center Gardens and a 70-foot “light tree” on top of the Mansfield Municipal Building last holiday season — pitched a similar idea to county commissioners on Tuesday.
Trumpower, a 1977 graduate of Mansfield Senior High School, told commissioners he could construct about 100 two-dimensional “trees” on the lawn, lights around the building’s arches and add one to the courthouse roof at a cost of $18,865.
He said the county could select from a variety of lights, including white.
“I will say the uniqueness of (the light tree displays), you won’t find anything in the whole country like this,” he said. “I’m not saying that to toot my own horn. It’s just the fact you don’t normally see it done this way.”
He would like to marry the courthouse lawn idea with an expanded effort at the city building and also Central Park. Including merchants downtown is also a possibility, lighting up the entire downtown.
“There are larger light displays out there, but I think it could be marketed (for people) to come and see a unique display you won’t see elsewhere,” Trumpower said.
He said the display at Kingwood helped raise attendance to 11,000 last holiday season, compared to 3,000 the year before.
Mark Hoover, director of horticulture at Kingwood, told Richland Source in April that visitors loved the expanded display of “Trumpower trees,” adding that many came back for a second look and brought other people along with them.
“It was a big hit,” Hoover said.
Trumpower, who has done light displays at the Saxton Avenue home since 2013, first approached Kingwood officials in 2017, paying for a half-dozen “trees” on his own that year. The lights were a big hit.
As a result, the project was expanded to 200 trees in 2018 and 2019, making use of the same designs with tree sizes ranging from 4 to 10 feet in a variety of colors. The centerpiece was a 28-foot green tree near the Kingwood duck pond.
Commissioners appeared to embrace the idea, saying they would discuss it with county maintenance supervisor Chuck Minich and get back to Trumpower soon.
