September 19, 2025
Modern Lighting Revives a Kansas City Landmark
After years in the dark, the tower shines again with dynamic lighting effects
For more than two decades, the KCTV5 Tower loomed over Kansas City as a dormant giant; dark, silent, and increasingly forgotten. Erected in 1956 to transmit television signals across the growing metro, it once stood taller than the original height of the Eiffel Tower and quickly became one of the defining features of the city’s skyline. But in 2004, the lights went out — casualty of age, cost, and shifting priorities.
Now, the tower is a shining again.
As part of Illuminate KC, the City’s expanding effort to revitalize urban landmarks through architectural lighting, the KCTV5 Tower was relit during a public ceremony on September 18. The initiative, led by Mayor Quinton Lucas, has already transformed local icons like Bartle Hall, the 18th & Vine Jazz District, and Waldo Tower. But this is the most ambitious project yet — an effort not only to restore a civic beacon but to recast it as a symbol of technological and cultural resilience.
Mercer Zimmerman, the region’s largest lighting agent, was cited by the City of Kansas City as the lighting and controls provider for the project. Working alongside Burns & McDonnell, Precision Communications, KCTV5, and Kansas City PBS, the team developed a lighting system built for both beauty and durability.
Mercer Zimmerman credited Griven’s Capital series LED fixtures — Capital 300 wide floods, tight spots at the antenna, and Capital 100s on each leg—all individually addressable, all controlled by an ETC Pharos DMX system engineered for dynamic programming and long-term reliability.
Lighting the Sky, One Fixture at a Time
All 96 Griven fixtures came online instantly during testing, with no wiring or control issues—a smooth startup that might not occur in all large-scale retrofit projects. The lighting design deliberately avoided direct-view linear strips, opting instead for an internal glow that evokes major European landmarks. And while a televised segment on KCTV5 suggested the fixtures were the same as those used on the Eiffel Tower, that’s not believed to be accurate. The aesthetic approach is similar; the equipment is not.
Installation required a specialized team from Precision Communications, which worked through the night last Wednesday until 4:30 a.m., aiming and programming fixtures from ground level to the 1,042-foot antenna. KCTV5 has reported that the illuminated tower can be seen from as far as 20 miles away — a conservative estimate.
More Than Just a Makeover
The City of Kansas City emphasized that the project was more than decorative. For Mayor Lucas, the project carries personal weight: “Like many Kansas Citians, I remember fondly seeing the KCTV5 Tower shining bright... beaming memorable events into our homes and standing tall as a landmark, visible over the years to millions across our region.”
Curtis Miles, General Manager at KCTV5, echoed that sentiment in a televised segment, describing the relighting as a moment the station has long hoped for. “As Kansas City prepares to welcome the world for the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” Miles said, “we couldn’t imagine a better time to bring back this powerful symbol of our city’s pride and resilience.”
The tower itself, visible from nearly every angle of downtown, was once a daily fixture in the lives of Kansas Citians. As KCTV5 explained in its broadcast, generations grew up with the tower’s red lights blinking against the sky—used at one point to indicate the next day’s weather forecast. That glow disappeared in 2004. And for 21 years, people kept asking: Will it ever return?
Now, the answer is a resounding yes.
The project is more than nostalgia. It’s a statement about where Kansas City has been, and where it’s going.
