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The multi-colored "Grotto Lights" were tested on the side of Huntsville's old Central Bank Building last month. They will be officially activated at 8 p.m. Friday by Mayor Tommy Battle. (Courtesy Downtown Huntsville Inc.)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Downtown Huntsville is about to get a little more colorful after dark.

At 8 p.m. Friday, Mayor Tommy Battle will flip a switch to activate the new "Grotto Lights" in Big Spring Park East.

A partnership between the city, Downtown Huntsville Inc., Alabama Media Group and Huntsville Utilities, the Grotto Lights will bathe the old Regions and Central Bank buildings on the Courthouse Square in multi-colored LED lights. They will also illuminate the Big Spring that served as the city's original watering hole.

Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO Chad Emerson said the lights are another way to "surprise and delight" visitors to the center city.

"Once the lights are activated," he said, "they will be on every night from sunset to sunrise – 365 days a year. You can see them all the way from the Embassy Suites."

Emerson said there will be special color patterns on holidays: Orange and black at Halloween; green and red at Christmas time; red, white and blue on July Fourth. Charitable organizations can ask to have their colors included by sending an email to chad@downtownhuntsville.org.

For example, the Grotto area around the Big Spring is likely to be lit pink for breast cancer awareness month in October, said Emerson.

Grants from Huntsville Utilities and Alabama Media Group, parent company of AL.com and The Huntsville Times, paid for the LED light fixtures. Emerson said Downtown Huntsville Inc. has donated the lights to the city.

The lighting ceremony, which is free and open to the public, is part of the new Friday Night Live downtown block party series. Nate "DJ Thrive" Mobley will be spinning tunes on the north side of the Courthouse Square from 7-10 p.m. Friday. That's the side where Sam & Greg's Pizzeria and Amendment XXI are located.

Mobley will also add color to the buildings and trees in that area with his own LED lighting system.