An anonymous donor’s $25,000 gift means it’s beginning to look like Christmas in downtown St. Peter for the first time in years.

City Administrator Todd Prafke says the unnamed “entity” stipulated only that the city use the money for downtown holiday decorations.

The city decided to spend the money on lighting, specifically energy-efficient LEDs fashioned into big snowflakes and positioned on light poles on Minnesota Avenue.

Public Works Director Lew Giesking says the downtown business district has been without holiday lighting since the devastating 1998 tornado.