Terra Lights Go Green for St. Patrick’s Day
(March 6, 2008) –The light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures on the University of the Arts' Terra Hall will go green in color in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. The Center City District (CCD) has re-programmed the lighting for the holiday on the evenings of March 7-9 and 14-17.
St. Patrick's Day is on Monday, March 17. The city’s annual parade is set this year for Sunday, March 9.
In addition, the CCD will change the light scheme on Terra Hall starting on the first day of spring, March 20, to reflect a fresh seasonal palette.
The CCD continues to experiment and refine the lighting colors and patterns at Terra Hall and is anxious to hear from the public. Send comments to lighting@centercityphila.org.
The LED lights on Terra Hall are also "green" in the environmental sense. The fixtures can be dimmed and dynamically controlled to produce 16 million color options while using minimal energy. Keeping Terra Hall illuminated for one hour consumes the same amount of energy as running a home clothes dryer for an hour.
Terra Hall is the harbinger of nearly a dozen more South Broad Street buildings that CCD plans to illuminate with LED fixtures this year, potentially making Philadelphia the first American city to light multiple buildings this way in a coordinated manner.
The lighting at Terra Hall was designed by The Lighting Practice, a Philadelphia-based firm, using a product known as LED Linear, which was launched by Philips Lighting last May.
The new Broad Street lighting is funded by: Center City District, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The William Penn Foundation, The Lenfest Group, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Community and Economic Development, Avenue of the Arts, Inc. and Broad Street property owners.
The Center City District, a private-sector sponsored business improvement district dedicated to making Center City Philadelphia clean, safe and attractive, is committed to maintaining Center City’s competitive edge as a regional employment center, a quality place to live, and a premier regional destination for dining, shopping and cultural attractions.
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