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Philadelphia Portal must find new host by October 31 or leave city

By
FOX 29 Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Published August 10, 2026 4:42 PM EDT
Published August 10, 2026 4:42 PM EDT
article

Photographer: Joe Lamberti/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Brief

    • The Philly Portal will conclude its current placement on October 31, 2026, requiring a new site and local sponsorship to remain in the area.
    • In a statement provided to FOX 29, a spokesperson for the organization confirmed the permit expiration and emphasized that project leaders are actively seeking a long-term host to keep the sculpture in Philadelphia. 
    • Project organizers have set a late-September deadline to establish a transition plan, noting that the sculpture may be moved to a different city if no local partnership is finalized. 

PHILADELPHIA - The Philly Portal, the city’s favorite giant webcam, might soon be telling the city goodbye.

The livestreaming public installation outside City Hall will conclude its current placement on October 31, 2026, requiring a new site and local sponsorship to remain in the area, according to a press release from the Portals Organization.

What we know:

In an email, a spokesperson for the organization confirmed the permit expiration to FOX 29 and emphasized that project leaders are actively seeking a long-term host to keep the sculpture in Philadelphia, which they "strongly feel is where it belongs."

Project organizers have set a late-September deadline to establish a transition plan, noting that the sculpture may be moved to a different city if no local partnership is finalized in the release. 

In the release, Portals founder Benediktas Gylys stated that the organization intends for the piece to stay in Philadelphia and is waiting for a local partner to agree to host it.

Connecting nations 

Dig deeper:

Installed in October 2024 as part of events leading up to the nation's semiquincentennial, the visual conduit provides a continuous video connection between pedestrians in Philadelphia and foreign locations. Over time, its rotating livestream has linked local viewers with a growing list of partner cities, including Dublin, Ireland; Vilnius, Lithuania; Lublin, Poland; Taguig, Philippines; and Piauí, Brazil.

According to the organization's website, "portals were born from a feeling that we humans have more to share than what separates us; and from a sense that we are all interconnected on this planet of ours." The program was launched in 2016.

Philadelphia is currently the only North American city to host a portal, though the U.S. previously hosted one in New York City at the Flatiron South Public Plaza in Manhattan in May 2024. 

Big picture view:

To maintain the installation in Philadelphia, the organization stated it requires a publicly accessible space with power and internet connectivity, funding for site relocation and maintenance and civic assistance for municipal coordination in a statement. These roles can be handled by a single entity or multiple collaborating organizations, the organization said. 

The Source: Information from The Portals Organization, an organization spokesperson and Smithsonian Magazine 

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