Boathouse Row lights return along Schuylkill River in Philadelphia for 1st time in nearly 1 year
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A Philadelphia staple along the Schuylkill River banks returned Thursday night after nearly a year.
The Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation and others came together for the "Official Boathouse Row Relighting Ceremony" on Thursday night.
CBS News Philadelphia got a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to flip the switch earlier this week.
"We didn't really know how much people would miss it when the lights went off," Tara Rasheed, senior director of capital projects for Fairmount Park Conservancy, said.
Work began last March to upgrade and redesign the lighting system to the tune of more than $2 million.
"We worked with the lighting practice on the design of a robust system of light strings and channels that would be able to withstand animals, weather and be a less vulnerable system moving into the future," Rasheed said.
Originally, the lights were supposed to come back on before the holidays, but supply chain issues pushed the date back. During this time, the clubs also did maintenance and improvements to the buildings including new roofs, painting and masonry.
"Each of the clubs is individually owned and run by volunteers, they made up to an $850,000 investment," Rasheed said.
Jonathan Hoyle with "The Lighting Practice" is thrilled for Philadelphians to see the new system.
"The iconic appearance is still there," Hoyle said, "but how it can be a little bit more when it wants to be."
Now that the 6,400 individual LED lights are turned back on, it will help illuminate the historic buildings. Those behind the project note the system can sparkle, ombre and fade.
"Each one of these has a red, a green and a blue LED inside of it," Hoyle said. "And so how, depending on how you mix those, you'll get any of those various 16 million different colors and the shades."
First introduced in 1979, the Boathouse Row lights have gone through several upgrades.
Excitement for the newest installment of lights was palpable on the way to its glow-up.
"Now we have this lighting system that contains a little bit more than it could before," Hoyle said. "It can be programmed, it can be sponsored, to help with the ongoing maintenance costs for future upgrades that might need to happen."
