After a year of darkness, Boathouse Row will be debuting a new LED light system during a public relighting evening in March, writes Michael Tanenbaum for PhillyVoice. 

The new lights can change color in 16 million combinations and be programmed with various effects.

The old lights were shut off last year to move forward with a new $2.1 million replacement project.

It was expected that the historic landmark’s lights would be out for about eight months, but the timeline was extended due to many of the boathouses needing exterior structural repairs.

The last time Boathouse Row had its lights changed was 2005. They were refurbished a decade later, but often experienced outages due to costly maintenance issues. 

The new lighting system features 6,400 LED lights with housing boxes designed to better protect them from the elements. They’ll be managed from a control room at Lloyd Hall and automatically turn on at sunset each night and shut off at sunrise. 

“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.

Boathouse Row’s first lights were installed in 1979.

Read more about Boathouse Row and its new light unveiling on March 7 in PhillyVoice.

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