November 21, 2023
ALBERT YEE/FAIRMOUNT PARK CONSERVANCY
The houses along Philadelphia's Boathouse Row will remain dark until the first quarter of 2024 as the historic landmark undergoes a major upgrade to its LED lighting system.
The iconic bright lights of Philadelphia’s Boathouse Row will remain dark longer than originally planned. The LED lights that have long illuminated the historic landmark are expected to turn back on sometime in early 2024, city officials announced Tuesday.
Originally expected to be finished by year’s end, the $2.1 million project to upgrade and replace Boathouse Row’s LED lights will now stretch into the first quarter of next year due to supply chain issues, according to a statement from the Fairmount Park Conservancy, which is overseeing the upgrades in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation.
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The lights along Boathouse Row have been dark since March, when the project to replace the system’s LED light bulbs first began. Once complete, 6,400 new lights will be able to change colors (with 16 million possible color combinations) and seemingly "move" across the buildings in an animated fashion. The color and figuration of the lights are often changed to honor holidays or show support for Philadelphia's sports teams.
Previous lights were damaged by weather and wildlife like squirrels, officials said. That damage has resulted in several outages, connectivity issues and the need for repairs. Over time, the increasing costs of maintaining and repairing those lights led officials to decide to replace them entirely.
The new lighting system was designed by The Lighting Practice, a firm that has upgraded the lights on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and installed lights on various Philly buildings, including the facade to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Lights were first added to the exterior of the buildings along Boathouse Row in 1979 and have lit up the structures at night ever since. In 2005, the lights were upgraded to LEDs, which were upgraded in 2016.
Boathouse Row was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The landmark is home to several rowing clubs that belong to the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia and serves as the location for prestigious races like the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the Schuylkill Navy Regatta and the Dad Vail Regatta.
