Terminal Tower lights

Terminal Tower stands lit in red, white and blue over Public Square in downtown Cleveland during the Republican National Convention in July.

(Joshua Gunter/Cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Let's put an end to the virtual gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over the potential loss of @TowerLightsCLE, the popular Twitter account tied to downtown Cleveland's Terminal Tower.

The Thursday sale of the iconic building to the K&D Group, Inc., didn't bring the demise of a social-media handle that has attracted 30,000-plus followers since early 2013. The account, a playful personification of the tower and it's lighting scheme, is merely under new management. And it might undergo a slight personality shift.

The Internet was all atwitter in late August, amid media reports that the account would disappear. Those stories, and the subsequent outcry, caught K&D off guard.

"We didn't even know it existed," said Doug Price, chief executive officer for the company, which is based in Willoughby. "We're watching Channel 3, and then we started getting hate mail from people."

K&D and Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., the seller, made arrangements to transfer control of @TowerLightsCLE, along with a website where people can submit lighting requests for the tower. At night, the slender top of the tower is illuminated by tens of thousands of LEDs, which change colors to mark everything from solemn events to holidays to hometown sports teams.

Under the direction of Forest City's Don Beck, who crafted the tower's jocular voice, @TowerLightsCLE also accepted lighting suggestions from Twitter users. Beck, who never truly broke character, sent out his last tweet as Terminal Tower on Monday. "The request lines are closed!" he wrote. "For now .. Thank you! #PEACE! *drops the mic and exits the stage....*"

In a Thursday news release, K&D said the account is here to stay.

"You'll notice we will proudly be flying the K&D flag later today," the company wrote.