Car 1 at Chicago History Museum

The familiar lights of the “L” cars streaking through the nighttime cityscape are a beloved part of Chicago’s landscape—and an iconic visual identifier for this great American city. But the Chicago History Museum’s Car 1 exhibit, which features the city’s first elevated train car, spent its time languishing in the dark.

Car 1, built in 1892, once carried visitors to the World’s Colombian Exposition and today serves as the centerpiece of the museum’s Chicago: Crossroads of America exhibit. Housed in a special space built for the car, the exhibit was plagued by outdated lighting that no longer functioned: nearly 95% of its fixtures were unlit.

Morlights designers, called in to help solve the lighting issues, discovered that the 26-foot ceilings were a part of the problem—simply because the added height made changing light bulbs an almost insurmountable challenge. We recommended needed upgrades to Bluetooth-controlled, long-lasting LED fixtures, negotiated a long budgeting and approval phase for the project, then helped to procure technology and coordinate with other vendors to see it through to completion.

After successfully clearing those hurdles, the way was clear for a two-day installation phase,during which Morlights implemented the new plan and created a fresh scene with Car 1 at the center of a well-lit stage once again, ready to transport visitors into Chicago’s storied history.

“Seeing Chicago’s first “L” car lit again for the first time in years was a real thrill.”—Avi Mor