You know it never stuck me but I know Chicago dyes the river green, and other places have different ways of marking St. Patrick’s Day. St. Paddy’s day is the day when everyone can tie one on like an Irishman.

But here in RI, we not only have the parades but there are two buildings in downtown Providence that have lighting atop them. One dates back to 1928, the other to 1973. They change the light colors depending on season.

So for Saturnalia/Christmas it’s red and green. For Valentines they use red, for St. Patrick’s it’s green, and being that St. Joseph’s Day is next, they’re now red. Otherwise they’re a HPS Orange, or bluish white light.

Now if only Buddy Cianci hadn’t thought that up-lighting wasn’t such a good idea. Because not only does the 1928 building have the light on it’s spire, it also has a ton of up-lighting. Same is true of many other buildings in the area.