Heads peeked out of shop doors, children stopped on sidewalks and drivers waiting at the Main/Commerce intersection didn’t seem to mind if the light was red.

Last January’s disappointment and outrage over the removal of the live downtown Christmas tree has, for the most part, become a slightly reluctant embrace of change.

&uot;We’d all prefer to have a real tree there,&uot; Nan Garrison said. &uot;But this is the right thing to do.&uot;

Plans last January were to remove the tree from the intersection altogether and start a new tradition with a tree on the bluff. As Christmas approached and the bluff tree turned brown, a new plan was hatched.

Having a live tree in a busy intersection was out of the question due to liability concerns, but having a more stable artificial tree bolted to the ground was a workable plan.

In October the city announced plans to purchase a $20,000, 30-foot artificial tree. Several fundraisers and many donations later Downtown Development Director Tammi Mullins said she is happy with the amount of money coming in.

And downtown business owners, tourists and residents are starting to accept the assembly-required tree.

What started as a post in the ground a few weeks ago grew to a metal frame this week and a few scraggly branches topped with a star Thursday morning.

By late morning the branches weren’t so scraggly and workers had filled the top fourth of the tree. By afternoon they were halfway done and downtown spirits were lifting.

&uot;I’m just so glad we are having a tree,&uot; Annette Burns said craning around the curtains in her B & K office to watch the tree go up. &uot;It’s been there all my life. It just isn’t the same if you don’t have trouble driving across the street. Any tree is better than no tree.&uot;

The workers at Sun, Moon and Stars had perhaps the best view of the installation and said their initial concerns about the metal frame were starting to go away as the branches went on.

&uot;I understand why they said we had to go artificial,&uot; Erin Myers said from the store. &uot;It’s disappointing, but as long as it looks like a tree we’ll adjust.&uot;

Nine-year-old Amelia Conn stood on the side of Main Street watching the tree go up Thursday afternoon and said she didn’t mind if it wasn’t real.

&uot;I remember the tree last year,&uot; Conn said. &uot;I don’t know if it was better. My mom likes this one because it won’t get on her car.&uot;

Elaine Daniels said she’d spent the past two days sticking her head out the door of her business Daniels’ Basketry to watch the progress.

&uot;It’s amazing to watch it come up,&uot; she said. &uot;I’m glad to see the green on it. We’ve been worried watching the progress before it looked like a tree. But it looks good now. I’m hoping it’ll be a good addition to downtown.&uot;

The official lighting of the tree will be at 4:30 p.m. today.