Why the Philadelphia Museum of Art isn’t more lit up at night
“We just can’t do something because we want to do it,” said Jane Lawson-Bell, the museum’s director of facilities and operations.
If it was up to reader Frank Dilorio, the Philadelphia Museum of Art would light up the Philadelphia skyline with such brightness that the entire structure could be seen from streets away.
Instead, only the east facade of the museum is lit at night, leaving him constantly distracted by what he describes as the “shyness of such a gorgeous building.” Longing to understand the nightly dullness, Dilorio asked Curious Philly, The Inquirer’s forum for questions about the city and region: Is there a reason why the Philadelphia Museum of Art is kept looking gloomy at night?
Infrastructure, money, and negotiations, said Jane Lawson-Bell, the museum’s director of facilities and operations.
Built more than a century ago, the museum doesn’t have a powerful enough electrical grid to illuminate the outside of the 635,000-square-feet building, let alone the surrounding grounds.
“We would need to increase the amount of power we have around the building to support that lighting,” Lawson-Bell said.
That’s not a decision the museum alone can make.
The land and the building that make up the Philadelphia Museum of Art are owned by the city.
“We just can’t do something because we want to do it,” said Lawson-Bell. “We have to have the cooperation agreement of the city and kind of work together to fund these capital projects.”
Even if the city agreed and the grid were to be updated, the museum does not have permanently installed outdoor light fixtures to illuminate the entire building.
The museum already rents this kind of equipment — but only for a couple of hours at a time, when lighting the building entrances for special events.
Having lighting installed and running from dusk to dawn would require the city and the museum to work out who would pay for it and how, and it wouldn’t be cheap.
For perspective, the two pieces of lighting that illuminate the east terrace facade at night cost about $7,000 a week, according to Lawson-Bell. Lighting the entire building would be much more, she stressed.
The cost and infrastructure make it harder for Dilorio’s wish to become a reality. But that doesn’t mean a future with additional lighting is impossible.
“It’s a huge capital investment,” Lawson-Bell. “But hopefully in the future, there will be more.”