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.