Boathouse Row's lights to turn off for massive upgrade project
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Monday night is your last chance to see the famous lights on Philadelphia's Boathouse Row for a while.
The popular attraction in Philadelphia will go completely dark for about eight months because of a multi-million dollar upgrade project that will turn them off for months.
The project, which starts by taking down the lights, will replace and upgrade the existing system at a cost of $2.1 million.
It's being done by Fairmount Park Conservancy along with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.
Organizers say the lights have experienced outages due to ongoing maintenance issues. The new project will completely redo and upgrade the entire system.
The custom new light channels will be much more resilient to weather and animals.
"Fairmount Park Conservancy is experienced in managing complex projects," Maura McCarthy, chief executive officer of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, said in a news release, "and we are pleased to be entrusted with such a unique and important plan to help the City of Philadelphia shine brighter."
Once it's done, Boathouse Row will have more than 6,000 lights with 16 million color combinations.
Residents say the lights will be missed.
"They're going to be sorely missed," Marc Umile said. "It's always been a custom to see the beautiful lights that have been right there."
"I love the Boathouse Row lights," Cara Scharf said. "They're pretty iconic, it reminds me that I'm getting close to my home because I live nearby here, and I think they're really pretty too. I guess it's a little disappointing but if they have to do what they have to do, I'm happy to have them back in eight months when they're restored and be able to be on for a long time."
The houses will be dark for about eight months, with the relighting expected at the end of 2023.