ORLANDO, Flla. — It’s New Year’s Eve and Orlando’s iconic Orange Ball Drop is in fact going to happen at midnight.

This comes after the tradition seemed to be cancelled — after its original owners closed their doors earlier this month.

Now, other bar owners are stepping in to make sure the tradition continues.

Wendy Connor, owner of The Reindeer Room and The Abbey, got together with some of fellow Thornton Park bar owners to offer to take over the midnight moment.

“It’s been ambitious, but we’re excited to make it happen,” she said.

The turnaround time to get things together has been quick.

“We were talking as a group and we’re like, okay, well, let’s reach out to our friends at Church Street Entertainment, Doug Taylor, and we did, and we heard back from him on Sunday, scheduled a time to go look at it (the ball) Monday morning, so we’re talking 24 hours ago,” said Connor. “And said, you know what, if we can find a way to do this safely, you know, dismantle, transport, put back up, then we would love to keep the tradition going.”

Now Connor and the other business owners, who are hosting a street party on Washington street, are in a mad dash to get the ball ready and installed.

“There’s just some beautification happening, some engineering happening, but she’s gonna be ready for tonight to make her to make her appearance, so we’re excited,” said Connor.

For Connor, this is about more than just throwing a great party. Instead, it’s about preserving the Orange Ball Drop and signaling the arrival of the new year, a celebration that Orlando has enjoyed for decades.

“Well, it’s just iconic and people are used to seeing it. It’s just like, you know, in times square, people look forward to seeing that ball drop. This is our ball drop,” said Connor.

While it’s taking a lot of last-minute work, Connor is confident that it will all be worth it.

“It’s such a short window for us to pull this off, but if it comes down like we think it’s gonna come down, it’s just gonna feel great that we were able to keep that tradition that they started going, and hopefully we can keep doing it for years to come,” said Connor

For those wanting to see the Orange Ball Drop tonight, remember this street party is a ticketed event that is expected to sell out.

Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.