August 26, 2015
Contributed Art/Beamltd.com
New 55-foot light towers to stretch from Hamilton Street near the Philadelphia School District building to Glenwood Avenue near the North Philadelphia BSL stop.
Brighter days are ahead for North Broad Street after the city announced an $8.7 million improvement initiative Wednesday that will install decorative lighting and landscaping along a 2.5-mile stretch of the historic thoroughfare.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and City Council President Darrell Clarke jointly announced the North Broad Streetscape project at a press gathering outside Congregation Rodeph Shalom at 615 North Broad Street.
“As a government, we want do anything we can to support growth and development along this important corridor,” Nutter said. “The North Broad Streetscape project will give this area a cohesive look and make it a safer, more inviting place for customers and residents. This project will return North Broad Street to its former glory as a main thoroughfare for our great city.”
The decorative light towers, which stand 55-feet in height, are each made of stainless steel mesh with lighting located directly inside the tower. Their design is intended to recall street lamps that graced Broad Street nearly a century ago. The entire project, expected to be complete this fall, will mark one of the largest streetscape improvements in Philadelphia history.
“Today we celebrate one of the most significant [streetscape] projects in recent memory as well as the continued renaissance of North Broad Street,” Clarke said. “These lights not only remind us of North Broad’s past as a cultural and manufacturing destination, they illuminate progress being made toward an even stronger magnet for commerce, culture and residents. The beautification of North Broad sends the appropriate signal — pun intended — that revitalizing and redeveloping North Broad is one of our top priorities as a city.”
Watch the full press conference in the video below.
