The last day to say hello to the world and goodbye to the Portal in Philadelphia will be Friday, according to Nicolas Klaus, CEO of Portals.org.
Two years after the interactive, livestream video installation that connects people around the world opened in Center City it will go dark and be placed into temporary storage until a new home for it is found, Klaus said via email.
The Portal was first installed in LOVE Park in October 2024, but after repeated incidents of vandalism it was moved to the courtyard of City Hall in April 2025, where it has remained ever since. In August, Klaus told the Inquirer that the city did not renew the Portal’s permit, which expires on Oct. 31, because of the forthcoming Christmas Village in the courtyard.
At the time, Klaus said he hoped another public or private entity would step up to sponsor the Portal and keep it in Philly. Readers offered their own suggestions, like putting it at the South Philly sports complex, but a partner who could pay the maintenance and connection fees, which costs about $30,000 a year, could not be found.
“Several organizations expressed interest in hosting the Portal at other sites around the city,” Klaus said. “However, we haven’t been able to secure the funding needed for its relocation and continued upkeep in Philadelphia.”
Officials are still reviewing future potential locations for the Portal and don’t have an announcement date set yet, Klaus said. Wherever the 3.5-ton circular screen ends up, he said the hope is that it will be the device’s forever home.
Created by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys, the first Portal installations opened in 2021 and connected Vilnius, Lithuania, and Lublin, Poland. Philadelphia’s Portal — the only one in North America — was stationed in New York City for five months in 2024 prior to its residency here.
Philly native Joseph Callahan, an entrepreneur and technologist, is one of the people credited with bringing the Portal to Philadelphia in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary. Last year, Callahan also took over the helm of World Cafe Live. His tenure there was tumultuous and he stepped back from that role in July. Earlier this month, World Cafe Live announced it will also close at the end of the October.
When the Portal initially opened here, it connected people in Philly with strangers in Dublin, Ireland; Lublin, Poland; and Vilnius, Lithuania. This year Portals were also added in Ipswich, England; Manila, Philippines; and Piauí, Brazil.
The Portal was always quite busy at the heavily-trafficked LOVE Park but less so at the more off-the-beaten-path location of City Hall’s courtyard.
“We haven’t tracked visitor numbers, but the Portal has been consistently popular, drawing hundreds of visitors a day, sometimes more,” Klaus said. “Encounters shared online have generated hundreds of millions of impressions over its two years in Philadelphia.”
Two days after the device opened in Philly, a man in Lithuania approached the Portal in his city and held up a sign that said: “GO BIRDS,” immediately endearing all of Philadelphia to himself and the device. Last year, an international chess tournament was held at the Portal, using chessboards connected by Wi-Fi. And one TikToker even made a video about connecting with someone in Dublin through the Philly Portal, whom he later met up with for drinks while in Ireland.
“But perhaps the most meaningful part for our team is the sum of all those small, everyday encounters that never went viral — the moments of connection between people who otherwise would never have met,” Klaus said.
The last day to interact with the Portal is Friday, but the exact timing of its removal is still being finalized, Klaus said. While this Portal may go to another city, Klaus said there’s still some hope for Philly.
“With the right local partner or patron, we would love to bring a Portal back to Philadelphia,” he said.