Photo by StationStart.com

Adams Morgan is looking little worse for the wear these days. The neighborhood is in the midst of a streetscape upgrade, which has made 18th Street a maze of road and sidewalk work. Once it gets done, hope frustrated business owners, the neighborhood will again feel the vibrancy it felt when it was the District’s go-to nightlife spot.

As part of the the upgrade, the Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District will soon be taking down a symbol of the neighborhood’s former glory: the decorative streetlights that line Columbia Road and 18th Street. The lights were installed in 2001 as a means to brand the neighborhood as a retail and nightlife destination after the September 11 attacks, when business was down across the city and country. There were four light designs: a high-heel shoe, a coffee cup, a martini glass and a music note.

But according to Kristen Barden, the BID’s executive director, the decorative lights have simply outlived their usefulness. The BID pays to the have bulbs on each light fixture replaced too often, she said, and they’re not particularly visible anymore. And as part of the broader makeover for the neighborhood, she added, they’ll be replaced by banners. (She also announced that a two-minute PSA the BID paid for would play on Virgin America flights into Dulles.)

The streetscape project is slated to wrap up in the coming months.