Holiday tradition: a star above Cleveland
12.23.2015
There might not be snow on the ground this Christmas in the Midwest, but another recognizable symbol of the season is helping Clevelanders get into the holiday spirit. The iconic holiday star that lights the winter sky between the stacks of ArcelorMittal Cleveland’s No. 1 steel producing dates back to the early 1980s.
Veteran employees remember that another division did something special for the holidays, and the steel producing crew thought they should do something to get in the holiday spirit too. They already had a tradition of hanging a large American flag between the stacks during the summertime, but the wind would tangle and tear the flag. So when considering their own holiday installation, the group wanted to design something more durable, something that could be seen throughout the industrial valley and promote a sense of pride and holiday cheer.
Members of the “bull gang” designed and built the original star out of 2" angle iron and have made improvements over the years.
To drivers passing by on the highway, the star might appear somewhat small against the backdrop of the massive facility. But standing at about 15 feet tall, it is no small feat to install the lit star on the roof each year. Originally, the "bull gang" used to raise the star by pulling on the cable to hoist it between the stacks. Eventually come-a-longs and cable pullers were used to make the job easier.
The star is lit with approximately 145 traffic signal light bulbs. Incredibly, it is wired with two circuits so if power is lost to a part of the department, the star will stay lit.
“When the Cleveland plant was idled in 2008/2009 during the economic recession, no one was around to light up and hoist the star. We received some questions from the community stating how much they missed not seeing the star during that year. It seems that along with the flames from the BOF stacks, the star has also become a symbol of our plant’s vitality,” said Mike Madar, division manager.
Thank you to the No. 1 steel producing maintenance crew for keeping this Cleveland holiday tradition alive!
<< Back to Our stories
