Flip the switch: Lights on Boathouse Row return after $2.1M renovation

This will light up your next drive along the Schuylkill River: Philadelphia's iconic Boathouse Row are back on following a yearlong $2.1 million renovation project.

Thousands of lights are illuminating the Schuylkill River again.

$2.1 million renovation project

In March of 2023, the lights on Boathouse Row were switched off and taken down as work got underway on a $2.1 million replacement project in collaboration with Fairmount Park Conservancy and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.

Officials said the old lights had experienced outages due to ongoing maintenance issues, as well as damage from animals and weather.

Now the new lighting system has 6,400 individual LED lights and 16 million color combinations. The lights will be able to change from one color to another or be programmed in a way that makes them look like they are "dancing" along the Schuylkill River.

“We extend our heartfelt appreciation to Joanna McNeil Lewis for her unwavering support of this project and her ongoing commitment to showcasing what is best about Philadelphia,” Fairmount Park Conservancy CEO Maura McCarthy said in a news release. “Fairmount Park Conservancy’s staff brings a wealth of experience in managing complex projects, and our team has worked tirelessly to return this cherished symbol to the shining status it deserves to be.”

“The light reflected on the Schuylkill River from Boathouse Row is there as we celebrate big moments as a City,” Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Commissioner Orlando Rendon said. “We are incredibly grateful to the project funders, and our partners at Fairmount Park Conservancy for preserving and modernizing the historic lighting traditions that make Boathouse Row such a cherished public space for all Philadelphians.”

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Bowhouse Row relighting ceremony

A relighting ceremony took place on Thursday, March 7 along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at the Fish Ladder.

During the event, guests enjoyed food trucks, music and more ahead of the ceremony.

Officials said due to the ongoing bridge construction, MLK Drive is only accessible from Sweetbar Drive or Black Road.

Alternate public viewing was available from points near the Fairmount Water Works.

History of Boathouse Row

Strings of lights were first installed along Boathouse Row in 1979 ahead of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Philadelphia.

LED replacements arrived in 2005. Since then, time, weather and wildlife took their toll, leading to regular outages.

Boathouse Row traces its history to the 1800s as Philadelphians flocked to the river for recreation and the city emerged as a major center of rowing. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Bonnie Mueller, the commodore of the Schuylkill Navy, an association of amateur rowing clubs in Philadelphia, said Boathouse Row occupies a unique place in the city — while its buildings are individually maintained by the clubs that own and use them, collectively they form “a very iconic and important public landscape.”